Want to know how hard The King's Fall Raid is? Or about the secret endgame weapon in TTK? Maybe you just want to know what Bungie really thinks about the way you cheese the Nightfall. All the answers are a few clicks away...
"I think there’s definitely stuff out in the game and out in the world that probably hasn’t been discovered yet... I don’t have a list of all of it! I know there’s a bunch of stuff in The Taken King that’s going to be pretty exciting to watch people uncover and figure out and... I am really looking forward to that."
"I think when you get into the realm of; while you’re playing the actual game, the right thing to do is to press the Start or Options button, go into your menu and switch stuff... I think you’re getting into a kind of scary place. Because then you're actually asking people to not play the game how it's meant to be. We need to make sure that we’re not doing that. If it ever was like “OK, juggle between the Defender and the Sunbreaker as damage types rotate on a boss” and that was the only way to beat him, I think that’d be like a bridge too far, yeah."
"I think that a year ago, we probably would have felt like a bunch of our systems were stable.Turns out they weren’t as stable as we’d hoped or, when exposed to scale, we found flaws with them and we had to fix them. We’ve done a lot to re-factor the way the game economy and the character level and how power works, and you always hope that that’s your next best idea. And so I think that one of the things for us at Bungie that’s really important is to be looking for that next potential pivot. If I were to say right now, “this system is going to last forever” then that would be foolish. I think that The Taken King is our next best effort at how we’re going to evolve character progression."
"I think the thing I’m most excited for is people’s reaction overall to the Dreadnaught. Like the entirety of the Dreadnaught part of the player experience, because I think that that represents us taking a bunch of... risks isn’t the right word, but that’s us pushing in some different directions, and so I’m excited to see how the community reacts to that. And if it brings them together, that’s going to be a great outcome."
"I assumed my position on The Taken King once I joined the project, after I finished my core responsibilities on vanilla. However, I was basically working during the day on The Taken King and then at night on Destiny vanilla, so it’s been in development for a while, and we’ve had different members roll on and roll off it at different rates. So it definitely accordion-ed up to be a sizeable team. And now it’s where... we’re in the period where it’s gotten small again. But the development timeline: I actually don’t know that, I don’t remember when I officially started!"
"I think there’s a lot of ingenuity and creativity in the 'cheesing' of encounters, but what it really is is the quest for efficiency, man! It’s all about the quest for efficiency, and when you have an activity like Nightfall, which is so punitive for losing – getting kicked to Orbit and having to re-do everything - you’re behaviourally incentivising players to play the game in a way that might not be super-fun. The game is at its most fun when you’re able to over-commit yourself, get yourself into trouble, emerge victorious and get yourself out. And the vanilla version of Nightfall kinda conspires against that, so we have to do something like soul searching as developers to say “OK, well – what’s going to be fun, and is the fun that we’re trying to create for you, are you able to have it?” What are the barriers between you and that gameplay experience? We have to continue to get better at that."
"Oh no, it takes a bunch of work, like going back in and messing with those Strikes and trying to refresh them without refreshing every element of them is a non-trivial amount of work, but we wanted the total Strike offering and the Strike drops to feel new and fresh for people, whether they’ve had Destiny for the last year or they’re just getting it this time this year for the first time. We chose the Strikes that we put in the new Strike playlist pretty carefully. We wanted to have them represent Strikes that haven’t been played a ton by players already."
"Oh man! There are probably two that come to mind: one of them is named the Sleeper Simulant, and it is a Heavy Exotic Fusion Rifle that shoots a rail projectile that bounces. It is styled in that sort of 'Rasputin-tech' styling - it’s a beautiful weapon.
"And the other one... I believe the final name for it is going to be The Old Hunger, and The Old Hunger is the gun that you forge over the course of the endgame. Like, you’re going to be finding pieces of it as you go, like basically putting this thing together is the ultimate trophy for primarily a bunch of TTK. I think that that gun as... it’s like wrapped in cloth, it has an orb in the centre that’s... it’s crazy! To see someone put that together, with all of its moving parts will be pretty mind blowing. I’m sure someone’s going to do it!"
Is it tough? Here’s the thing man, if I say it’s tough, then people flog me if it’s not super-hard. If I say it’s easy then people are upset if it’s hard. Difficulty of the Raid is a question that really scales to each group. So what we’ve done... construction wise is we’ve built the Raid differently this time than we’ve built them previously, where we’ve actually built Hard Mode first. So we built the whole suite of the mechanics for Hard Mode up front, and then looked at that and said “OK, this feels good for that Hard Mode challenge, what sub-set of these things will feel good for that group of six who’s coming in to play through the game” like the... “What are the pillars for the Raid activities?” Any motivated group of six players who are willing to cooperate and communicate can beat the Raid – that’s what we’re looking for and that’s our bar. It’s not just for a die-hard and their friends, it’s any motivated group of players who are willing to cooperate and communicate can beat a Raid in Destiny. So that’s our bar for Normal, and then Hard Mode’s hard mode.
Here's the thing about games: you can never have enough. No matter how many incredible virtual worlds we've experienced, there's always something new on the horizon to get us excited for the next big game all over again. Even though there are plenty of stellar games to enjoy in the here and now, it's never too early to get excited for what's coming, and what could be.
Here's a look at our most anticipated games coming in 2016 and beyond, from original ideas like ReCore and Horizon: Zero Dawn to high-profile sequels such as Uncharted 4, Dishonored 2, and Mass Effect: Andromeda. It's going to be another great year for gaming - just try not to think about how long it'll be until we finally get to play these excellent-looking titles.
It’s taken years for Harmonix to take another shot at Amplitude, a music-and-rhythm game cherished fiercely by the people who actually played it back when it launched on PlayStation 2. Its new incarnation is aimed precisely at that crowd of longtime supporters, in part because they’re the ones paying for it through Kickstarter, and in part because it’s a game so evocative of the PS2’s more experimental days. In 2016 we’ll see those days modernized by Harmonix in a gorgeous, abstract rhythm game about blasting down a space highway, triggering pulsating notes, switching tracks and becoming immersed in the studio’s in-house electronic music.
Available: January 2016 (PS4), Early 2016 (PS3)
Every day is opposite day in XCOM 2. In this alternate history to XCOM: Enemy Unknown, the rogue organization XCOM is now the Rebellion to the aliens’ Empire. Earth has been overrun. The aliens now occupy our planet, forcing XCOM to become a leaner, faster operation. Firaxis' Greg Foertsch told us this new game is all about hit-and-run tactics. Your enemies outnumber you, are better armed, and have the home field advantage, so you need to hit 'em fast and get the hell out before backup arrives. As I noted in my , "XCOM: Enemy Within tried to reinforce a more frantic pace by introducing MELD. XCOM 2 bakes this playstyle into the core of its design."
Available: February 5 (PC, Mac)
It's no secret that Gearbox has struggled to step out from the shadow of its own massively successful Borderlands series. The studio's other projects (such as finishing Duke Nukem Forever and Aliens: Colonial Marines) have been met with … less than positive reception. Hopefully Battleborn, a unique spin on the co-op shooter formula that made Borderlands so popular, can turn things around. While it's not a MOBA per se, it certainly wears the influence of the genre on its sleeve to create a tightly-controlled experience that makes each level feel more directed and less meandering than its open-world predecessors. With tons of colorful characters to choose from and a distinct flair for personality, this may be the best chance Gearbox has to prove they're not a one-franchise wonder.
Available: February 9 (PS4, Xbox One, PC)
Deus Ex: Human Revolution was way better than it had any right to be. It also opened in 2007, an era when every series under the sun from RPGs to strategy games were being transformed into basic shooters. Instead of a dumb FPS, Human Revolution was an expert blend of story, role-playing, action and stealth. sees the same team of creators emboldened by their success and working on an even grander scale.
Available: February 23 (PS4, Xbox One, PC)
It's always nice to see a cult classic get a second chance in the spotlight. The original Mirror's Edge delivered the critically-praised and novel concept of a first-person parkour game, and those who played it generally loved it. Unfortunately, those numbers were a bit on the low side, and it looked like we would never get the chance to see the ideas present in Mirror's Edge refined into something better. Imagine our surprise when Mirror's Edge Catalyst appeared - this reboot developed by DICE (Battlefield 4, Battlefront) in the Frostbite 3 engine (used by most of EA's recent games, including the aforementioned Battlefield 4 and Battlefront) looks good enough to get us freerunning again.
Available: February 23 (PS4, Xbox One, PC)
A deadly virus has broken out and spread across the United States on Black Friday (and no, it's not amiibo fever), causing the government to collapse in under a week. In response, what remains of an organization called The Division must restore order and help prevent any further chaos. Of course, this means exploring a derelict New York City with friends and hunting for awesome loot, a la Destiny - though your friends might not stick around if you backstab them in the game's many PvP Dark Zones.
Available: March 8 (PS4, Xbox One, PC)
The Ghosts are back, and this time they’re free to roam the land, taking down tangoes as they see fit. is an open-world co-op military shooter, where you choose how to approach each mission. It’s designed for squads of four, and friends can drop-in to help out at any time, although the AI will take over if you just want to solo the game. It takes plenty of cues from Ubi’s other action games, like Far Cry and Assassin’s Creed, so expect stacks of mini-missions, side-ops, and different ways to approach each objective. Probably no elephants or honey badgers, though (unfortunately).
Available: TBA (PS4, Xbox One, PC)
Following a delay that pushed out of the 2015 holiday season, A Thief's End has a firm release date in March 2016, so everyone has three more months to emotionally prepare for the end of Nathan Drake. Of course, it's not certain that's what the title means - Nathan's long-lost brother Sam (new to the series and played by Troy Baker) also appears to be a thief, so it's anyone's guess which thief will be 'ending'. What we know for sure is that Sam convinces Drake to return to the globe-trotting, treasure-pilfering life for one last job off the coast of Madagascar. Sully is in tow for optimal joke making, and per the E3 demo we get plenty of the intense car chases we've come to love from Drake's adventures. Elena has yet to make an appearance, but no need to worry just yet - what would the last Uncharted game be without Elena? Sob.
Available: March 18 (PS4)
After breathing new life into the fighting game genre with 2008's Street Fighter 4, developer Capcom now finds itself in an interesting position with its upcoming sequel. SF4 found great success in going back to the basics, in keeping things simple. But sequels demand new ideas, and delivers by replacing the focus attack mechanic with three new designs: V-Triggers, V-Skills, and V-Reversals. So far, the result feels like a mix between Injustice: Gods Among Us and the Street Fighter Alpha series, with a heavy focus on giving each fighter individualized gimmicks. And if that doesn't get you pumped, well, there's always R. Mika.
Available: March (PS4, PC)
Quantum Break represents a big departure for Remedy - it’s not a story about a Mister Q. Break. As for the rest, well, it’s totally what you’d want from the creators of Max Payne and Alan Wake (starring Max Payne and Alan Wake, respectively): slick third-person action, extravagant graphics, environmental catastrophes, and a pulpy time-travel story driving you from one cliffhanger to the next. Quantum Break also has a live-action television component interspersed with gameplay episodes, balancing the developer’s desire to not only hook you on an unfurling plot, but to respect the fact that you probably don’t have time to watch and play the whole thing in one sitting. Not that it’ll be any less hard to put down, going by Remedy’s previous games.
Available: April 5, 2016 (Xbox One)
Once upon a time, Rare fans dreamed of a game they awkwardly dubbed 'Banjo-Threeie' - basically, the next Banjo-Kazooie game after the stellar Banjo-Tooie. Unfortunately, that game never materialized (Nuts and Bolts doesn't count). But next year, Yooka-Laylee - a new mascot-happy platformer made by a group of ex-Rare devs called Playtonic Games - promises to hit fans right in the nostalgia with a cheeky, cartoony, collect-a-thon-y return to form. If screenshots from the game's Kickstarter campaign are any hint, expect a 3D adventure-platformer where a bat and chameleon duo collect golden book pages called "Pagies" to expand the world around them. Add in that the character designer, environmental artist, and composers from Rare's good 'ol days are also on the project, and I'm starting to feel some deja vu.
Available: October (PS4, Xbox One, Wii U, PC, Mac)
A follow-up to the excellent classic role-playing game Divinity: Original Sin, this sequel easily sailed past its Kickstarter goal and looks set to build on the impressive manipulation tactics set by its predecessor. This time out, the theme is “how your origins affect who you are and what chances you get in life,” and you’ll be able to exploit character weaknesses to achieve your goals. If the first game is anything to go by, you can expect to get up to a lot of magic-based mischief.
Available: December (PC)
One of the most underrated open-world playgrounds is primed to make a hell of a comeback in 2016. The urban sandbox of the Crackdown universe is all about taking down crime lords in the most egregious, property-obliterating ways you can think of - and with the power of the Xbox One backing it, .
Available: TBA (Xbox One)
The master is back. After taking a supporting role on the development of Dark Souls 2, From Software's Hidetaka Miyazaki is back in the director's chair for the next (and last) installment in the Dark Souls saga. The grand finale to this legendary action-RPG franchise has a lot to live up to, and it's interesting that there seems to be a lot of Bloodborne's DNA in its make-up. So expect not only demon-stabbing, slashing and flaming, but also some of the best enemy designs around. No pressure, then.
Available: TBA (PS4, Xbox One, PC)
If you're looking for blood, gore, shotguns, and more gore, the new Doom looks like it has all of those bases covered. In the E3 2015 gameplay demo, we finally got to see Doom in action and it wasn’t long before we were seeing demons decapitated by shotgun blasts and ghouls being dismembered with a chainsaw. Doom looks like it's staying true to ye old shooter mechanics of yore, forcing you to pick up armor and health packs, but there is new flair added to the shooting with gruesome execution moves that allow you to stomp heads and rip the arms off of stunned enemies. Oh, the joy.
Available: TBA (PS4, Xbox One, PC)
During Bethesda's first ever E3 press conference, the company with announcements for Doom, Fallout 4… and Dishonored 2, sequel to the 2012 gaspunk sneak-a-thon Dishonored, right alongside. Set ten-plus years after the end of the first game, Dishonored 2 will feature two main characters: Corvo, our familiar protagonist, and Emily Kaldwin, his young charge-turned-magical-Assassin. Each will have their own storyline and set of powers, and if Dishonored 2's E3 trailer is any indication, you can be just as ruthless no matter who you choose.
Available: Spring (PS4, Xbox One, PC)
Media Molecule made a name for itself with off-the-wall game concepts populated by universally appealing characters, as seen in LittleBigPlanet and Tearaway. But Dreams is definitely its most experimental project yet, even by the studio's eccentric standards. What little we've seen of this surreal experience involves shaping objects and vignettes from a highly moldable, clay-like material, which can then be animated through a sort of PS4 puppetry and shared with other users (a la LBP). The idea is that you'll eventually wander through a string of completely unalike, ethereal visions, but how that'll function in terms of actual gameplay is still a mystery.
Available: TBA (PS4)
When Final Fantasy 15 arrives in 2016, it will have officially been in development for ten years. Despite name changes, platform shifts, and a brand new director taking over the game, it’s actually looking like it might have been worth the wait. Director Hajime Tabata has a flair for taking risks with Square Enix’s flagship series, as with the strange mix of manga melodrama and war documentary in his most recent release, Final Fantasy Type-0. The emerging themes of bombastic anime action and lend themselves nicely to a road trip story full of cars, camping, and magic roadside diners. All that helps make Final Fantasy XV an ambitious, truly unique entry not just in the series, but in the role-playing genre as a whole.
Available: TBA (PS4, Xbox One)
Gears is back, and while the series over time evolved into a brotastic locust-filled curb-stomp-fest (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing) many of us are excited that Gears of War 4 will bring back the darker, horror-tinged vibe that the series initially started out with. There's not much to know at this point other than the fact that the two leads, Kait and JD, are fighting bizarre creatures in courtyards and dark corridors with familiar weapons. The studio responsible for the franchise, now renamed to The Coalition, is led by Rod Fergusson, the former Director of Production at Epic Games, who has been working on the series since the first game.
Available: Holiday 2016 (Xbox One)
Halo Wars 2 ranks pretty high up there on the list of 'sequels we never expected to happen in 2016'. The first Halo Wars, while not a bad game, didn't exactly light the fires of passion in either the Halo fanbase or RTS players - partly due to its limited tactics and console exclusivity. Halo Wars 2 looks to change that in a couple of very important ways. First, it's coming to Xbox One and PC, and second, it's being developed by Creative Assembly, the studio behind the Total War franchise. Those guys and gals know their stuff, and it gives hope that Halo Wars 2 will be more complex and honor the RTS genre in a stronger way than its predecessor.
Available: Fall 2016 (Xbox One, PC)
It’s been a long and troubled development but Homefront: The Revolution is finally seeing the light of day and, from what we’ve played, it’s shaping up nicely. A sprawling open world city makes it feel like Far Cry with guerilla warfare and that’s just fine. Philadelphia in 2029 is ruled by the Greater Korean Republic and it’s you and a bundle of other (mostly leather clad) rebels taking on the city with explosives in hand. Just like Mad Max, everything goes boom here and there’s even remote-controlled explosive devices to take on the technologically-superior enemy. Dambusters is concentrating on weapon customization with every part of your weapon able to be satisfyingly swapped out for other bits. The action is suitably chaotic, too, with enemy drones sweeping in and sending you running for cover to replan your attack. Add in a motorbike to cross the city and Orwellian areas of the map to explore and this is an open world we’re excited to explore.
Available: TBA (PS4, Xbox One, PC)
This is just about the last game you'd expect from the team behind Killzone: a post-apocalyptic adventure game where you play as a young woman hunting robot dinosaurs. That's the concept behind (which we'll just be calling 'Horizon', thank you very much), where you'll be hunting mechanical prey with nothing but a bow, arrows, and whatever other gear you can collect from the object of your hunt. Since you have only the most primitive equipment to work with in this hostile world, you'll have to be clever about how you use it, setting traps or using stealth in places when a direct confrontation means death between some beastie’s mechanical jaws. Little is known about the story, but the sincere, unflinching way it approaches its premise (Robot. Dinosaurs.) more than has our attention.
Available: TBA (PS4)
After departing Epic Games in 2012, Cliff Bleszinski went on to start his own studio, Boss Key Productions. LawBreakers is the first effort from the new studio: a fast, futuristic, free-to-play arena shooter that harkens back to the days of like Unreal Tournament and Quake. LawBreakers evokes those classics' relentless pacing and verticality (yes, it's even got rocket-jumping), but mimics contemporary shooters like Overwatch and Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 in that you play as unique characters with special abilities. We're excited for LawBreakers' gorgeous, graceful carnage, though it remains to be seen how publisher Nexon will handle the game's microtransactions.
Available: TBA (PC)
LEGO Marvel’s Avengers assemble for the second time in this goofy, co-op friendly format but now, it’s based off the recent Marvel movies The Avengers and Avengers: Age of Ultron as well as the comics. It’s meant to be a celebration of everything Avengers related all in one - even Stan Lee will make an appearance as Iron Stan. It’ll likely be everything that you know and love about LEGO games, because Traveller’s Tales has got this formula nailed down.
Available: January 26 (Xbox One, Xbox 360, PS4, PS3, PS Vita, 3DS, Wii U, PC)
LEGO Worlds is already available on Steam Early Access and it’s what you picture it to be, a sandbox game that allows you to build an entire worlds made up of LEGO Bricks. Finally! The worlds are procedurally generated and you have landscaping tools carve out the LEGO paradise that you’ve always dreamed of. At least you never run the risk of stepping on stray pieces, because that hurts.
Available: TBA (PC, TBD)
It's easy to forget that Mario - the mustachioed mascot who sold millions by platforming through the Mushroom Kingdom - stars in some of the wittiest, most enjoy RPGs available. Both the Paper Mario and Mario Luigi games are known for their wry humor and their timing attacks - hitting a button in time with an attack to deal extra damage. Jam is an RPG mashup of both Mario role-playing universes. Considering the Paper Mario series has been in a weird place with its last two entries, hopefully this collaboration will return it to its RPG roots.
Available: Spring 2016 (3DS)
Commander Shepard's story is over and the Reaper invasion is behind us. Now what is the human race to do? Explore space, obviously. If Star Trek has taught us anything, it's that you can have some incredible adventures out in deep space. In Mass Effect: Andromeda, you take on the role of a new main character as he or she (or maybe it?) explores the Milky Way's neighboring galaxy Andromeda. Not much is known about the game yet, but we have seen glimpses of what appears to be a Mako-like land rover and the return of omni blades.
Available: Q4 2016 (PS4, Xbox One, PC)
Mega Man purists might have a tough time making the transition from the classic Blue Bomber to the new android Beck, but the spirit of the fighting robot is definitely in Mighty No. 9. The classic side-scrolling shooting and platforming gameplay has a new home, but this spiritual successor is still under the watchful eye of Mega Man creator Keiji Inafune. After beating each boss, Beck earns Mighty Skills that allow him to take additional forms (including a tank), or morph his arms to gain magnetic powers. Each new ability gives him access to previously closed off areas and exposes enemy weak points.
Available: March (PC, Xbox One, PS4, Xbox 360, PS3, Wii U, Vita, 3DS)
When it comes to Kirkman’s zombies, we’ve been from the sublime work of Telltale to the ridiculous awfulness that was Terminal Reality’s Survival Instinct. Overkill’s The Walking Dead wants to deliver the undead experience we really need and with the full support of Robert Kirkman himself, the Payday 2 devs might just deliver something (bloody) special. This slice of zombie action is all about co-op in post-apocalyptic Washington and is set in the comic book universe, not the TV show. It’s an FPS but has elements of stealth, survival horror and good old headshots as you and a friend attempt to survive in a world more than a bit hungry for your brains. We’ve not seen quite enough to know if Overkill can topple Telltale but it looks like it’s going to be gorily exciting to find out.
Available: TBA (PS4, Xbox One, PC)
Sometimes, suburbia just isn't big enough to contain an all-out war between the walking dead and sentient plant-life. Sometimes, you need to take the fight to the moon. Garden Warfare 2 is the follow-up to the team-based, third-person, surprisingly fun shooter based on Popcap's essential tower defense game, adding a bevy of fresh classes and chaos-encouraging arenas. Standout newcomers include a rapid-firing stalk of corn and a support-spell-casting rose for the Plants, while the Zombies have recruited an undead-piloted mech suit and a rotting superhero to their squad. Whether you're engaging in a 24-player melee or some lighthearted 4-player co-op, this backyard carnage is sure to be a hoot.
Available: TBA (PS4, Xbox One, PC)
Continuing the theme of post-apocalyptic robo-wildlife from Horizon, ReCore stars a girl and her mechanical dog-friend-thing with a plasma globe for a stomach, as they explore the wastes and fight other metal-based fiends. While not a lot has been revealed, there’s a mechanic that lets you insert your companion’s core into other robots for new abilities. It’s also being made by Keiji Inafune (the man behind Mega Man) and the makers of Metroid, so you can likely expect more than just your average run-and-shoot game.
Available: June 2016 (Xbox One)
Insomniac’s AAA reimagining of the original Ratchet and Clank, debuting alongside a full-blown movie based on the same source material, easily exceeds the usual parameters we apply to ‘remakes.’ Though the new Ratchet Clank brings its playful blend of platforming and weird weapons to planets we’ve seen before, we haven’t quite seen them in such a cutting-edge display of the PS4’s capabilities. Insomniac has also completely modernized the controls and camera, redone every cutscene to a Hollywood calibre and introduced new oddball guns. And yes, Mr. Zurkon is here too.
Available: April 16, 2016 (PS4)
You might be familiar with the concept of the , where standout games have been locked away on Nintendo's sixth-generation console seemingly for all time. Luckily, one longtime inmate is finally being freed thanks to Resident Evil Origins Collection, which bundles an HD remake of the GameCube prequel Resident Evil Zero with 2015's re-remake Resident Evil HD. Whether or not you're following the unlikely duo of Rebecca Chambers and Billy Coen for the first time, the prospect of blasting giant mutant tarantulas on a speeding train in glorious 1080p is pretty damn enticing.
Available: January 22 (PS4, Xbox One, PC)
When Hideki 'I just blocked you on Twitter' Kamiya makes a game, you should pay attention. He's the man behind Resident Evil 2, Devil May Cry, Viewtiful Joe, Okami, Bayonetta… are you seeing the trend here? Almost everything the guy touches turns to gold. Scalebound is Platinum's first Action RPG, incorporating elements of the team's trademark free-brawling action, only now you've got a dragon at your side, helping you out. The demos so far have all looked far too good to be true (surely no game can really handle all that climbing on beasties in a fast-paced action format), but it seems increasingly likely this will be another top-drawer hit. Oh, also check your Twitter - I hear Kamiya just blocked you.
Available: TBA (Xbox One)
Made up of ex-Bioshock developers, indie studio Fullbright used its expertise in crafting believable spaces filled with incredible detail and environmental storytelling with its breakout hit, Gone Home. Now, Fullbright reaches for the stars with Tacoma, a game set on a space station hundreds of thousands of miles from Earth. We don’t know much about Tacoma yet, but chances are good that you'll walk around the station hunting for clues, and solving some puzzles while an engrossing, non-linear narrative washes over you.
Available: 2016 (Xbox One, PC)
It's almost too good to be true. Following eight years in development and radio silence on its progress for the last three, it seemed like The Last Guardian would forever be a pipedream, the stuff that Team Ico fans sigh over in moments of quiet sehnsucht. But during E3 2015, Sony dropped a bombshell by revealing that not only is The Last Guardian alive, it's nearing completion and coming to PS4 in 2016. In The Last Guardian, you play as a young boy exploring a calmly empty fantasy world alongside his giant eagle-lion-dog, who learns to help you solve puzzles with a little training. Most of the game is yet mysterious, but the fact that its existence is not is probably the best news Ico and Colossus fans have heard in many moons.
Available: TBA (PS4)
What Remains of Edith Finch is by the creators of Unfinished Swan, the game where you lob black paint all over the place to discover the world in front of you. Edith Finch is visually different (less paint), but there is a similar element of discovery, as you (Edith) move through the world from a first-person perspective and unravel the story of your cursed family. It’s a series of short stories where you get to experience the lives of various family members, leading up to their death. Cheery, isn’t it? It's actually quite unsettling, but fascinating.
This year, video games finally figured out the majesty of Dog. You don't need a degree in marketing to notice that including a dog in your game <(a href="http://www.gamesradar.com/final-fantasy-15-teaser-features-dog-internet-goes-nuts/" target="blank">or even just in a trailer) leads to instant player love, especially when the dog's . Man's best friend has been a part of games for years, their innate wonderfulness is finally being fully realized.
Of course, things could have easily gone differently. Gaming is almost inexorably linked to the internet, and what does the internet love? . It makes you wonder how gaming would be if all its best dogs were envisioned as feisty felines, with all the appropriate changes in personality. The end result is hilarious for us, but maybe not so great for their servants--I mean protagonists.
As a dog: Growing from an adorable puppy into a still-adorable killing machine, D.D. helps you track enemy combatants, sniffs out supplies and weapons, and will absolutely knife someone on command if you arm him properly.
As a cat: Diamond Cat may like the thrill of the hunt, but focuses almost entirely on small desert creatures to the detriment of the team (and refuses to share his spoils). He also has a habit of sleeping during the day, only to sprint frantically through a enemy base and alert all guards during night missions. He will, however, still definitely knife someone, but it'll probably be you. Why just puke in your shoes when he can murder you instead?
As a dog: After losing a fight against Max (and knowing what's good for it), The Dog quickly makes itself useful as a mine-sniffer, helping Max dismantle landmines hidden in the wasteland's most attractive scrap heaps.
As a cat: Dinki-Di finds a nice warm spot in Chumbucket's buggy and sunbathes through every wasteland excursion Max takes him on. He can sniff out the landmines just fine, but keeps that information to himself, and is nonplussed when his nap is disturbed by explosions and flying meat.
As a dog: A K-9 with the Ghost squadron, Riley is as much a trained soldier as anyone else on his team. Decked out with a bulletproof vest, he is often sent in ahead of his human teammates to attack unreachable enemies, do reconnaissance, and find secret paths his allies can take during stealth missions.
As a cat: Riley is an expert at infiltrating enemy camps and barricading himself in a bathroom by closing the door and pulling opening an adjacent drawer. He then uses his ultimate distraction tactic - clawing at the enemies' hands as they try to get the door open with a coat hanger - allowing American soldiers take the camp unnoticed. He doesn't do it on purpose of course. It just kind of works out that way.
As a dog: A bit of a lone wanderer himself, Dogmeat joins the Lone Wanderer when they cross paths in the depressing and barren wasteland. He helps guard the Lone Wanderer from enemies, but is even more effective as a tracker, disappearing for days on end to uncover items at his master's request.
As a cat: Catmeat refuses to retrieve anything on command, but he does leave the corpses of mangled birds, lizards, and other small creatures in the Lone Wanderer's backpack. That isn't so bad when you're wandering the desert without food, but it'd be nice if he'd make sure they're fully dead first.
As a dog: Angelo serves as Rinoa's loyal companion and primary weapon. All of her special limit break attacks incorporate the canine in some way, and Angelo can serve as everything from an emergency medic to an oversized projectile.
As a cat: Angelo refuses to respond to any commands, being a cat. But he still acts as an effective weapon when Rinoa uses her ultimate limit break and drops him on her opponent's head. Which he falls onto right-side up, naturally.
As a dog: Originally trained to be an attack dog, Chop is left in Franklin's care by impulsive gangbanger Lamar, and turns out to be the world's biggest sweety. He regularly goes with Franklin on car rides, and can help defend Franklin in times of need.
As a cat: Chop is perfectly happy to hop in the car (preferably by dropping through the sunroof) but immediately goes into panic mode once the vehicle is mobile. Driving down the highway with Chop in tow unlocks a new minigame where Franklin struggles to keeps the feline from crawling under the brake pedals.
As a dog: The most quadrupedal member of the Persona team, Koromaru is a loyal and highly intelligent animal that loves movies and hanging out in the team dorm. He's also fearsome in battle, and has taken down Shadows without an evoker, using only his intellect fancy knife skills.
As a cat: Koromaru is able to hold his own against Shadows with the rest of the team and kill as necessary, using his ultimate attack: exposing his belly and hypnotizing enemies into petting it, like a furry bear trap.
As a dog: Fiona's canine escort, Hewie acts as her primary means of defense. But more than just commanding him to attack an assailant or fetch items for her, Fiona can train Hewie into an obedient, loyal, and courageous guard dog intent on keeping her safe.
As a cat: While Fiona screams for help and flees from her attackers, Hewie is too busy with a fascinating dustball he found in the corner of the hallway to notice, and will be preoccupied for the next several hours. Fiona can take care of herself, and when's she going to get around to feeding him, anyway? Food, human. that is what you are good for.
As a dog: This cute fellah is already pretty cat-like, since you only see him for a second or two before he darts away into the forest, only to be seen when he's good and ready. But his dogly nature comes out after Leon saves him from a bear trap and, out of gratitude, the dog helps Leon fight El Gigante.
As a cat: He does just as much disappearing as you'd expect, but he's not nearly as grateful or willing to help Leon in battle. He mostly just eats all your green herbs and throws them up on the carpet before disappearing into the night.
As a dog: Easily one of the most despised characters in gaming history, Duck Hunt Dog has no qualms about rubbing your nose in even the slightest failure. He's all cheer and happy faces when you shoot down his dinner, but let a single fowl get away and expect to get a good, long look at his overly-amused mug.
As a cat: He doesn't even bother to mock you. He just stares at you with eyes full of derision, pressing the weight of your failures down upon your fragile human soul.
The malleable nature of online games means nothing is sacred, no aspect is safe from influence or enhancement. Even the recorded performance of an actor such as Peter Dinklage is a piece to be plugged into a game like Destiny - or unplugged, if someone better or with a more compatible schedule comes along.
Nolan North is taking over duties as the Ghost, your chatty companion orb in Destiny, after just one year. His role could be timeless, sure ... but nobody’s perfect. And as long as Destiny isn’t perfect, Bungie might as well put a revolving door on the Ghost’s recording booth.
Let’s cast for a spell, shall we?
“Xur, the odds of successfully surviving a moon wizard attack are approximately three thousand seven hundred and twenty to one!”
As the body, voice and soul of C-3PO, Anthony Daniels has some verified experience in playing a verbose, eternally consternated robot. There’s no shortage of horrid things to fret over in Destiny - The Vex, The Hive, that grumpy Mr. Crota - and no way to avoid countless firefights and spooky Martian caverns. He’s going to hate it, and his only R2 companion is the one that fires a loud gun.
As her stellar work in Orphan Black has shown, Canadian star Tatiana Maslany can blend into any role - an inhuman ball of talkative space minerals won’t even register as a challenge for her. You’ll totally forget it’s Maslany playing the Ghost, right until people start complaining about the fact that she hasn’t won an Emmy for it yet. Why hasn’t she won an Emmy yet? Seriously.
Troy Baker, or Nolan North 2, as he’s known among casting directors, should have little trouble compressing his considerable talents to fit inside the Ghost’s shell. He’d knock it out of the park, we know this, but there’s one other reason Troy Baker’s ubiquitous voice is an apt and inevitable part of Destiny: It’s a video game, and it’s illegal to release one without him.
Though 343 Guilty Spark has struggled to break out of menacing future-orb roles - does anyone remember his cameo as “Fancy Security Camera” on CSI: Cyber? - it might be time to fall back on what he’s best at. 343 Guilty Spark also has an in with Bungie, having worked with the studio on multiple Halo games and lore-heavy motion comics. There were some regrettable things said between parties after writers killed him off in Halo 3, of course, but he’s smoothed things over since then. Besides, if you really want to earn a grudge from Bungie,
“That pelvic sorcerer came from the moon!”
Chris Pratt is almost too cool for a video game, but Activision’s army of negotiators make a strong case when they all show up at once, in an actual case, in groupings of $10,000 or more. It’ll be money well spent to get a Ghost with all the qualities of Hollywood’s current go-to hero: inescapable charisma, a carefree embrace of adventure and some wild sex appeal.
Mmm, sexy, sexy Ghost man. Why don’t you place a nav beacon to my spaceship’s private quarters?
Forget the subservient AI routine - maybe we want the Ghost to be odd, unsettling, commanding, weird. Maybe we want Destiny’s main chatter to go through a Tilda Swinton filter, coming out in a skewed way, tingling in our ears like the demonic whispers of a dark universe throbbing just beneath our own. With every word, Tilda-bot shatters the bones of our conceptions, reducing our understanding of Destiny’s lore and our universe to a gently quivering blob. Now Destiny is an eldritch horror that we can never escape.
Shia LaBeouf does just fine as ol’ Ghosty, as we’ll come to call him around Destiny Year 4, but the important part is that he, well, did it. Standing in the mirror for a solid week, never once sitting or showering or eating, LaBeouf willed his dream into reality by shouting motivation phrases at himself. Do it. Do it. Become someone important! In Destiny, the video game!
We’ll look back fondly on this version of the Ghost, which proved that sometimes our aspirations can pay off, and that sometimes you just gotta kill Nolan North with your bare hands to get the gig. DO IT!
What’s he doing these days?
Think of how delightful Mrs. Potts was, and how adept Jessica Fletcher was at solving mysteries and corralling killers. That sounds like the kind of companion, eloquent yet inquisitive, you’d want alongside you in the fight against The Darkness. Lansbury’s considerable experience on film and stage makes her all the more fit for a Destiny Ghost - and there’s not a single grimoire card that says Jessica Fletcher wasn’t reincarnated as a whipsmart robo-sphere after she wrote all that murder. Bet you missed that aspect of the plot, didn’t you?
With the specter of George Lucas floating over every instance of a creator re-doing their work, fans will inevitably demand the return of the original Ghost from Destiny’s good ol’ days. “Dinklebot was better,” fans will say. “Perhaps we were too harsh on him,” critics will write. “Can you please kill Tyrion already and free up Dinklage’s schedule,” Bungie will whisper into George R.R. Martin’s ear. “And maybe it wasn’t entirely his fault.”
SSX for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 is only three-and-a-half years old, but let’s be honest: we haven’t had a proper, joyous SSX about bright color, big music, and even bigger air in over a decade. Starting with the original on PlayStation 2, EA Sports Big’s snowboarding game took the glutted extreme sports genre and revitalized it with a splash of wonderful absurdity. No real world snowboarder could pull of the aerial feats commonplace in SSX, let alone in the middle of a cloud of fireworks, but the series had an intense tangibility in its best moments. At its peak, nothing else felt like SSX and we miss it terribly.
We want you back, SSX. This is everything we loved about you that we want to see in you on modern day machines.
SSX3 was the game that paired the smooth momentum and deep satisfaction of pulling off tricks in SSX and Tricky with an evolving mountain you could explore at will. SSX 3’s open range remains distinct, revealing depth through alternate routes and by connecting individual races and challenges into a seamless whole. By the time you hit the All-Peak race, you know every dip, every jump, and every tree intimately. Today when seemingly every game is an open world, a new SSX with the structure of 3 would be damn refreshing. Just imagine the weather.
The soothing voice in your ear as you tricked your way down the mountain at breakneck speed, Atomika always had your back. His updates and announcements made you feel like the peaks were all part of a single, connected space, with your rivals racing down Happiness while you’re practicing your grinds in Snow Jam. The tunes Atomika spins were the perfect complement to your snowy stylings, pumping you up and urging you to go faster, soar higher. (Though the ability to remove certain songs from his playlist was particularly helpful whenever “Jerk It Out” came up.) The Junkie XL remix of Fischerspooner’s “Emerge” will always evoke the adrenaline rush of catching really, really big air and nailing that perfect trick, and is there a better song to race to than N.E.R.D.’s “Rockstar”?
For all of SSX 3’s openness, it was still tightly designed. If you could just go anywhere on the mountain, the races wouldn’t have felt so driven. This isn’t a real mountain after all. If it was, Elise would pull off a sweet grind, head off into the woods and then get stuck in mud and rocks. The game smartly laid out boundaries marked by irregular blue signs and if you strayed too far it set you back on the path with only a slight penalty to score, time, or race placement. SSX 2012’s mountain, while bracingly sharp and chilly in its capturing of real mountains and weather, also sadly forced you to restart every damn event if you went out of bounds. Obviously a modern SSX can offer even more space than the classics thanks to technological advancements, but an ideal sequel would balance realism with the flexibility and intelligence of those old boundaries.
SSX 3’s soundtrack is sublime. Just a perfectly curated collection of beats, bass, and soothing, atmospheric ambience. It fits and amplifies the game’s breezy, airy, giddy vibe of extreme fun without limitations in a gloriously jubilant, blisteringly eclectic way. It’s bona fide landmark in licensed video game soundtracks that has still, 12 years later, not even been approached in terms of quality or creativity. But you know what makes it even better? The damnably clever - witty, even - way that the game’s dynamic audio design squeezes every last drop of exhilaration out of every track in its roster. Thread and weave through a tight, shimmering cave or tunnel, and the bass and reverb will crank up, surrounding you with your environment by piping it directly through your ears. Launch into a big air, and the heavier elements will drop away, until eventually the entire track falls to the earth below your skyborne feet, replaced only with clean breezes and birdsong. Until that is, you hit the ground and the party kicks back off once more.
SSX3’s track design is a masterwork of intricacy, instinct, pacing and pathfinding. Where other racing games will present their depths by way of lines to be perfected, apexes to ace in order to shave fractions of seconds off race times over weeks to come, SSX at its best is at once more open and free, and far more creatively demanding. Traverse an area a couple of times, and you’ll think you know it. But you don’t. You’ve only seen its surface layer. The greatest success (and fun) does not come from honing. It comes from exploring. Hit that grind-rail you hadn’t previously noticed, and you might spot a pylon cable if you leap off it just right. Wouldn’t it be cool if you could grind that? Guess what. You can. Then there’s that railway track that you’ll find if you crash into that secret tunnel, from that hidden rail, from that hidden jump, from that secret shortcut between buildings. Actually forget exploration. SSX is more about hacking a track, peeling it apart like an onion and finding new track upon new track hidden in plain site in the same space. That’s what we need from a new SSX. Let’s scale it up even further and forget the last game’s mountainside vagueries.
Characters in sports games - the ones that aren’t modeled after real-life athletes, that is - tend to be fairly interchangeable, but the boarders of SSX 3 have distinct personalities and styles. You don’t choose your in-game representative based on their stats or gear, but on their swag. For me, the perfect SSXer always be Elise, whose easy confidence never falters, even when a beefed landing leaves her face-deep in powder. “Take myyyyy picture!” she yells whenever she does something really brag-worthy, which is exactly how we’re supposed to feel as we master SSX’s slopes one by one. SSX’s characters are a marvelously diverse assortment of superstars, misfits, jerks, and cutiepies that don’t feel like they were designed by focus groups. Keep it that way.
Maybe it seems strange to single out snowboarding as one of the best things about what is ostensibly a snowboarding video game, but SSX’s signature sport got lost under some cumbersome accoutrements as the series went on. On Tour’s skiing wasn’t unwelcome. Nor were the wingsuits in SSX 2012. With every new accessory, though, SSX lost some of the perfect balance in its core flow of movement on a board. Carving a line, hitting a buttery jump and spinning as it crests. That’s the good stuff, not buying an extra pick axe or air purifier in a menu for microtransaction cash. And not that it’s a worry at this point in popular development, but the sooner we all forget SSX Blur’s atrocious motion controls, the better.
SSX’s smooth, weighty boarding isn’t just about broad-strokes, downhill spectacle though. The half-pipe trick competitions of the series’ earlier entries are damnably satisfying, desperately strategic timesinks, and we need them back. Like everything in a good SSX, it seems simple at first. Two big jumps sitting opposite each other, a timer, and a bunch of points to score. But like everything in a good SSX, you’ll be discovering the hidden depths of cleverly stacked design in minutes. Momentum leads to bigger jumps. Bigger tricks lead to more boost, which leads to extra air, which in turn leads to hidden means of launching yourself, even whole new, airborne pipes. And then there are the various trick and point boosters carefully ‘littered’ around the arena, which you’ll soon learn not to hoover up willy-nilly, but to collect methodically, at exactly the right time, as you plan your route to carve across the pipe to hit them at just the instant needed to really make your biggest moments sing.
In the age of modern PCs, Xbox One and PlayStation 4, monumentally fast computing machines across the board, speedy loading times remain an issue in most games, particularly those sporting big open spaces to play in. If SSX brings us back to the mountain top, graphical fidelity, scope of the mountain, and fancy real-time weather effects should all be balanced around giving you swift, instant access to events and free boarding on the mountain. Every entry in the SSX series, from the pinnacle of SSX 3 to the awkward modernity of SSX 2012, suffered from painfully long loading times.
Look, we get that big, connected, internet-powered video games are a thing, but sometimes that stuff just gets in the way. A new SSX has to focus on what made the previous games great. Namely focus, presence, and ownership of the environment. To that end, we don’t want certain events - or even areas - fenced off into the online-only realm, nor do we want a particularly vast swathe of the game to be online-enabled at all. Races, leaderboards, and ghost downloads. That’s it, please. And give us the ability to participate or deactivate that stuff at will. We don’t want to be cruising the mountain, taking in the air and the vibe to the delicate sounds of Royksopp, only for some wayward stranger to invade and bump us off the lip of a crest. Those wastrels have no place in SSX, and nor does that behaviour
Let's face it: Destiny's voice actors don't have much they can chew into. In the year since its release, Destiny's expansions - including the megaton additions in - have done a lot to flesh out the story, but you won't find too many long monologues or gripping dramatic scenes throughout the cinematic plot. You may not even realize how many instantly recognizable actors are part of Destiny's cast, which is full of talent that in hindsight seems startlingly underutilized.
This is by no means an exhaustive list of every voice actor in Destiny - just the ones you'll definitely recognize, even if you didn't identify their voice right away. Peter Dinklage's performance as your Ghost may be , but these roles will continue to be a part of your daily Destiny routine. Knowing who reads the lines for the many supporting characters in Bungie's massively multiplayer universe could make you see those bit players in a whole new light.
In Destiny, he's: The head honcho for the Hunter class, this Exo is the guy to talk to whenever you need Hunter armor or a pep-talk on fighting the good fight. He's also crucial to the overarching story content in The Taken King.
But you probably know him better You've got at least starter-level nerd cred if you instantly recognize Nathan Fillion as Malcolm Reynolds, the rugged, dashing captain of the ragtag crew in Firefly and its film follow-up Serenity. He's also gained mainstream recognition as the lead on Castle, where he plays a crime-solving author, as well as roles in cult classics like Slither and Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. Judging by Fillion's numerous appearances in the Halo series, it's safe to say the folks at Bungie have a thing for Captain Hammer - and really, who could blame them?
In Destiny, she's: Warlocks know to visit this soft-spoken sage for any class-specific quests and gear whenever they stop by the Tower.
But you probably know her better Like Fillion, Torres is an alumni from the cast of Firefly/Serenity, where she played the ship's second-in-command (and distinguished crackshot) Zoe Washburne. Fans of TV drama might also recognize her from Alias and 24; more recently, Torres has played key roles as Jessica Pearson on Suits or Bella Crawford on Hannibal.
In Destiny, he's: Rounding out the Vanguard trinity at the Tower's command center, Zavala tutors Titans and doles out some early story quests.
But you probably know him better Reddick's distinct, baritone voice exudes authority, which surely helped him nail iconic roles as Phillip Broyles on Fringe and the pivotal Lt. Cedric Daniels on HBO's The Wire. He's also had some brief stints on Law Order, Lost, and Oz. Nowadays, you can catch Reddick on Bosch and the upcoming Quantum Break TV show that ties in with the game.
In Destiny, she's: One of the most mysterious (and still unexplained) parts of Destiny's main story, the Exo Stranger keeps tabs on your Guardian and eventually rewards them with a legendary pulse rifle.
But you probably know her better Fans of AMC's The Walking Dead will surely recognize Cohan as Maggie Greene, one of the most crucial survivors in the whole series. Cohan's also made appearances on Chuck, The Vampire Diaries, and Supernatural.
In Destiny, he's: The overseer of all things PvP in Destiny, Shaxx is the one narrating your team's every triumph (and failure) during each match in the Crucible.
But you probably know him better James is another recognizable face from The Walking Dead, where he plays one of Rick Grimes' earliest allies, Morgan Jones. James is also the lead of the new ER drama Critical, Robert Hawkins on Jericho, and the bumbling criminal Sol in Guy Ritchie's cult classic Snatch.
In Destiny, he's: Because that giant white orb known as The Traveller has a hard time chatting with Guardians, The Speaker is there to act as its surrogate quest-giver/speech-maker.
But you probably know him better Nighy's been in countless films and shows dating all the way back to the '80s, but his most mainstream roles include the washed-up rocker Billy Mack in Love Actually and the tentacle-faced Davy Jones from the Pirates of the Caribbean series. You may also recognize him from his parts in Hot Fuzz, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and the primary villain Viktor in the Underworld franchise.
In Destiny, he's: A mild-mannered vendor representing the New Monarchy faction (with no known relation to Metal Gear Solid godfather Hideo Kojima).
But you probably know him better Remar's another veteran actor, with dozens of on-camera and voiceover roles under his belt. You most likely recognize him as father figure and imaginary confidant Harry Morgan on Dexter; he's also had some great turns on animated shows such as Ben 10 and The Legend of Korra. And I'll never forget his breakout role as the smarmy tough guy Ajax in The Warriors.
In Destiny, he's: Another peripheral vendor hanging around the Tower, representing the black-and-white-centric Dead Orbit faction.
But you probably know him better This Swedish actor's unmistakable mug has shown up all over the place, but most will know him from his roles in films by the Coen brothers, where he played the short-tempered crook Gaear in Fargo and a ferret-owning nihilist/porn star in The Big Lebowski. He's also a crucial character on Prison Break, and his lent his pipes to several other video games including and both of the Mercenaries games.
In Destiny, she's: As one of the most trusted servants of Mara Sov, queen of the Awoken, Petra Venj is the vendor for the Queen's Wrath faction.
But you probably know her better Just as Matt Stone and Trey Parker provide the voices for most of the characters on the profane cartoon megahit South Park, Stewart does the voices for the lion's share of the female cast, including iconic Colorado citizens Wendy Testaberger, Sharon Marsh, and Liane Cartman. That's right: Cartman's mom is one of the Reef's most trusted intermediaries.
In Destiny, she's: Depending on which race you choose during character creation, this could be the very voice of your personal Guardian.
But you probably know her better Griffin (who's often credited as Grey DeLisle) has hundreds of voiceovers to her name, including lead roles on classic cartoons such as Mandy on The Grim Adventures of Billy Mandy, Vicky of The Fairly Oddparents, and Frankie Foster on Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends. But avid gamers should recognize her distinctive voice as Catwoman from the Batman: Arkham franchise, Kitana and Mileena in , and the female Wizard in Diablo 3.
In Destiny, she's: If you prefer to make your female Guardian avatar to align with your real-world species, this is what she'll sound like.
But you probably know her better Eisenberg's distinct, strong voice has made her the perfect Wonder Woman throughout the many iterations of the Justice League animated series. She also plays a smattering of voices in Skyrim and the dreadlocked renegade Ashelin Praxis in the Jak and Daxter series.
In Destiny, he's: Known primarily as Destiny's #1 troll, Master Rahool is the Tower-stationed Cryptarch who identifies all your precious engrams, and will inevitably turn one of your precious, purple legendary engrams into a piddly, common, green piece of gear at some point.
But you probably know him better Avari has a wealth of supporting roles in his credits, including blockbusters like Stargate, The Mummy, and Independance Day. Personally, I adore his turn as a lackey with a heart of gold in Mr. Deeds. Yes, the one with Adam Sandler.
In Destiny, he's: This cloaked Exo vendor offers Guardians a wide selection of weaponry and ammo in the Tower, and is worth visiting on a weekly basis.
But you probably know him better John DiMaggio also played another famous robot, albeit one with a fouler mouth: Bender, of Futurama fame. He's another legendary voice actor credited with hundreds of roles, but some of his most iconic include Jake the Dog from Adventure Time and Marcus Fenix from the Gears of War series.
In Destiny, he's: You'll often find visitors to the Tower milling around this 'bot, given that he's the source of all those XP-boosting Bounties. You likely won't be visiting him quite as often in The Taken King, as you can now turn in completed Bounties from any location (thank God).
But you probably know him better Keating is best known as Malcolm Reed on Star Trek: Enterprise and Andrew Tyge on Prison Break. But to me, he'll always be Kormac the Templar, my most loyal follower in Diablo 3.
No matter how many hours you muster with a finished game before launch (and I've managed to bag a full two days with The Taken King, and several days with the game after the 2.0 update) there's no way to tell exactly what can occur when a globe-full of Guardians suddenly turns up to the party. A large part of what makes Destiny great is its capacity to inspire its community of players, and while what I've played has me pretty much convinced that it's going to be the business, I've decided to hold off from serving up a complete review.
Within these slides you'll find my final thoughts on the main campaign, along with numerous additional story missions. You'll also find my verdicts on the four new Strikes, as well as initial impressions of the new loot system and other endgame pastimes found aboard the new area, The Dreadnaught. Keep your eyes on the site, as you'll get additional slices of review as the Raid, King's Fall, goes live this Friday. That, and the ongoing revelations that follow over the coming days, will allow me to eventually strap a score on the end.
If you're a veteran Destiny player then ask yourself one question: What would you change about it? It's not a hard question, huh? It is hard to think of a game in recent years that has seen a fan base burgeon so quickly and with such dedication, but which openly harangues it from all angles for its faults. The problem was that Destiny always felt so darned close to fulfilling all of the promises made pre-launch.
Very palpably, The Taken King moves to address some of the loudest roars of incredulity. Namely, the lack of a genuine story which left many cold, the confusing loot system which gated off all the best stuff behind random loot drops (forever 29, anyone?) and, most potently, the necessity to repeat the same content endlessly in order to progress. If one or all of these bugbears reared up when you pondered the question at the top of this slide, then prepare thyself. Bungie has been listening.
The most immediately appreciable changes are in how Bungie has adapted its world to cater for a legitimate story. The main campaign now has a proper arc, with the bombastic introduction to the big bad Oryx at the outset as the spark that sets off the escalating plotline. NPCs, who were once nothing but voiced vendors (quickly flushed out of useful gear and forgotten) are fleshed out properly as tag-along characters. Among them is Cayde-6, the fantastically charming Hunter Vanguard with a penchant for breaking the rules.
If you wondered what might have been had Bungie injected the modicum of humour that it had apparently planned from the outset, back when David Cross was on board to pen some lines, then the answer is in Cayde: a delightful dash of personality. Ghost's seen an overhaul, too, not just with his re-voicing at the chords of Nolan North. He's chirpier, funnier and is now capable of scanning certain elements of the world around you to serve up a slice of the exposition that was once upon a time reserved for Grimoire cards nestled in Bungie.net.
Then there's the loot. Oh the sweet, delicious loot. Say what you like about the random nature of the drops in vanilla Destiny, but the gear you could find was inspiring in its trend-bucking and often infatuating in visual and audio design. Guns and gear are equally as fun to discover and play with here.
It's a difficult process for those weaned on Year One's most infamous Darkness blasters, mind. Within minutes of play I'd discovered a rocket launcher, a fairly common Blue one by The Taken King's standards, which utterly trounced my fully upgraded Gjallarhorn for damage. Throwing Gjally into the vault felt like sacrilege in all the right ways. What you've got in the loot reset button is something the game so desperately needed and, while there'll likely be a few new favourites around the corner, for now, at least, digging through all the new guns is a joy.
There's a lot more of it, too. Those shiny green, blue and very occasionally purple engrams that burst forth from enemies now do so with almost careless abandon. As you power through the story, you'll find yourself picking through winnings with regularity, and not just to dismantle stuff to clear some room. For the campaign, at least, there's a heavier emphasis on having fun with the various guns, now much more easily associated with the various makers of the world.
The stats of blue/Rare level gear are always worth checking, too, as once you do start filling out your slots with purple/Legendary kit you'll be able to upgrade them via the Infusion system. Rare gear can actually be more powerful than base Legendary gear, and so can beef the latter up beyond its regular output. All of these aspects, along with the new algorithms working behind the scenes to ensure you're less likely to get the same bit of loot twice, make sure that much, if not all, of the previous complaints about RNG and Forever 29 are assigned to the past.
The here and now is all about The Dreadnaught. This gigantic battleship has crested into the solar system, displaced a portion of the rings of Saturn and is now splurging out Taken, existing enemies from the world of Destiny that have been, for want of a better term, Oryx-ed. Or Taken. Which is what they're called. Huh. The incredibly nitpicky among Destiny fans might have had reason to grumble that previous enemies were oddly familiar to those found in Halo (Phalanx = Jackal, Dreg = Grunt) but these rejigged versions are wholly fresh. Your first run in with each variety inspires grins aplenty, from the shield-buffing Vex Goblins to the blindness-inducing Fallen Captains.
The Dreadnaught itself is both home to a bunch of the new story missions, and also a new destination for between-mission Patrols. Rather than be a quick fire dash between flashing mission nodes, however, here you're able to take part in a larger variety of pastimes. There's a whole batch of secret chests to discover, the means by which they're opened as yet unknown. I managed to open one chest by following a series of riddles and tasks. To say I'm looking forward to having Reddit's help finding the others is an understatement.
The four new strikes are by far the best that Destiny has seen thus far. It's the boss fights that do it. Each one comes loaded with memorable encounters, not just because they are bigger or have bullet-soaking health bars necessitating long old fights (Gjallarhorn's abandonment ensures that Bungie needs not rely on these types of encounter anymore, thank the Traveller).
These boss fights and the scenarios that lead up to them feel almost Raid-like, though not nearly as tough. Fights require active communication. Take the Shield Brothers, for example. The titular Cabal duo have a complementing defensive shield and forward rushing melee strike to share out between them, so fireteams have to call out who is where and deploying what in order to adequately best them both. Arguably the most excellent boss comes in the PlayStation exclusive Strike, Echo Chamber (available in autumn for Xbox owners). In an admirable anti-cheesing move a giant mecha- eyeball shifts Guardians around the room with moving plasma walls.
It sounds incredibly boring, but holding all of this new stuff together are a set of menus you’ll have to look very far afield to find outdone. They’re smooth, functional, look great and manage to house all the complexity normally contained across a keyboard of hot keys and a mouse, only in a single stick and a couple of buttons. Said it would sound boring, didn't I?
Honestly though, after just a couple of hours play, darting between comedic chatter with Cayde-6, through a trip to the Court Of Oryx (more on this boss-spawning side activity later, too) and then into the depths of a boss fight on the Dreadnaught you never knew was even there, you can't not appreciate that all of this is tied together via such an easily navigate-able, smoothly implemented UI. This one's to you, unsung UI artist somewhere in the back rooms of Bungie HQ.
is a very, very different shooter to the one that launched 12 months ago. It has been patched, tweaked, added to, tweaked some more, then patched again for good measure. Weapons have been balanced and rebalanced, loot caves have been blocked off, and two expansions have brought fresh challenges for Guardians to take on. So much has changed but despite this, many have fallen off the Destiny wagon.
Just about everyone on the GamesRadar+ team has played Destiny, but some have abandoned the Light of the Traveler in pursuit of other gaming interests. That's understandable. Parts of early Destiny were broken and the repetition of quests and environments pushed players away. But as we all learn more about the upcoming expansion, former players (GR+'s included) are seriously considering a return to the fight. There are always concerns when coming back to such a sprawling and involved game, which is why I - as someone who is still playing Destiny regularly - have had the GR+ staff bring their Taken King concerns to me. Now let's see if the new expansion squashes those doubts.
I'm not saying The Taken King is going to revolutionize video game storytelling or anything, but I expect The Taken King's story to be on par with what the Halo series has been putting out in the most recent years. Destiny's Lore runs deep - it's just not in the game. The Taken King is building on what narrative there was from vanilla Destiny and the following DLC content The Dark Below and House of Wolves and bringing some of the Grimoire-style storytelling into the missions.
The story is going to be more fleshed out. In the Dark Below, the Guardians killed Crota, a Hive god who had taken over Earth's moon. The thing is, Crota has a daddy, and he's super pissed that his son is dead. Now he's coming to destroy all of man/Exo/Awoken kind, and it's up to the Guardians to stop him in TTK. There is teraction with the prominent characters in the tower, which include a Nathan Fillion-voiced Exo hunter leading you through the new adventure. The story missions also feature an improved Ghost character, voiced by Nolan North (RIP Dinklebot) who gives you lore tidbits as you explore and scan the environments.
Let's be real. You're going to be replaying content in Destiny. There are Strikes, Missions, and Raids to grind for gear and you're going to see those events and environments over and over if you want those shiny Exotics. BUT! Bungie has been working on making much of Destiny's repeatable content less predictable. Strikes now have randomized elements, so you might walk into a room full of Cabal your first time in but come into that same room a second time to find it filled with Taken.
Then there's the Dreadnaught. This place is all about exploration, solving puzzles and uncovering secrets hidden in the darkest corners of the Hive-built space ship. We don’t have many details on what we'll find during Dreadnaught Patrols, but Bungie promises that there are plenty of worthwhile rewards to uncover. Like, Legendary / Exotic quality, not that Rare or Uncommon garbage.
This is where Bungie has made some big changes. There used to be a saying in Destiny: "Forever 29," referring to the level players were stuck on as they kept grinding the Vault of Glass for their last piece of randomly dropped raid gear. Now, your character level is no longer tied to the gear you have equipped. You progress as you would in any other RPG. You kill stuff, complete missions, and turn in bounties to get experience and earn max level 40.
The game no longer forces you to grind a single event to get to the max level. The Trials of Osiris, Raids, the Court of Oryx, and Strike missions all allow you to get the game's most powerful gear.
Playing Destiny with a coordinated crew of likeminded players is definitely the best way to experience the open-world shooter, but unlike vanilla Destiny, The Taken King makes it easier to see high-level content without having to set up a fireteam beforehand. In the Dreadnaught's Court of Oryx, you can join in on any other player's event, helping them accomplish their task and netting you some hefty loot in the process. You play with other players, earn gear, and face some pretty tough bosses without any strings attached.
The old Weekly Heroic Strikes have been axed in favor of a more rewarding Heroic Strike Playlist, which automatically does matchmaking for you (much like the old Weeklies did). Playing through the playlist with other random Guardians will ensure you're getting plenty of Legendary Marks - the primary currency for purchasing high-level legendary gear. With this new system you can get up to the max level with some pretty effective gear all by your lonesome.
Even though your character level no longer relies on you acquiring new gear, higher level weapons and armor does make you more powerful. You still have to get Legendary and Exotic kit from chests, quests, and boss drops, but - hold on - it's better now.
Destiny's random loot system now takes all of the items in your inventory into account. So if you already have a Last Word hand cannon, you'll be less likely to receive it in a drop and more likely to get another Exotic instead. Grinding one event over and over is less likely to be a thing you’re forced to do, because you'll get the items you want more often.
Quests, bounties, and faction reputation have changed quite a bit in The Taken King. Now everything is ‘questified’ (actual term used by Bungie). Meaning, the bounties and quests can be tracked in the new quests screen and progress can be viewed in the ghost overlay in-game. In addition to the interface, Bungie is adding a greater variety of bounties to the rotation.
With The Taken King expansion, the faction vendors have also gotten an upgrade. You can still earn rep by turning in bounties and completing missions for experience, but now you don't have to wear that faction's class item to earn it. You just pledge allegiance to your chosen faction by paying a small fee of Glimmer. Also, if you don't want to grind out experience, you can sell materials for faction rep. Then there are vendors like the Gunsmith, with whom you can test out guns to gain reputation and purchase weekly Legendary rewards.
That's cool. No game is perfect and Destiny isn't for everyone, but Bungie has put a lot of effort into transforming Destiny over the last year. The developer has been incredibly dedicated to making the game better and has been very transparent with the community about making the necessary tweaks and changes. Though Destiny might not have started off with the best first impression, the future is looking bright, and now's definitely the time to hook up with your old fireteam, jump into the Crucible, and get back into Destiny.
I watched Silent Hills along with everyone else as it burst - Hindenburg-esque - into flames and crash-landed all over the internet. And despite my best attempts to plug that pyramid-shaped , it festers to this day. But what I didn't appreciate until recently is that the tragedy of Silent Hills and Kojima's unceremonious departure from Konami doesn't end there. It gets even worse.
Over the years, the prolific game designer has hinted at a handful of other ideas and projects he'd love to puruse. In fact, it was this hinting that landed him the ill-fated Silent Hills gig in the first place. But between his recent departure and Konami's... shall we say... new direction, it's unlikely any of these ideas will ever been seen or heard from again. Here's a look at what could have been:
Back in 2012, Konami held a special, Zone of the Enders-centric event in Japan where they 'Enders Project' was in development. The game would utilize the Fox Engine (which now powers Phantom Pain) and would be the Enders series' first major release since 2003's 2nd Runner. At the same event, the company also announced a release for the much-anticipated Zone of the Enders HD Collection, which would help kick off the hype train for Enders Project.
Except the exact opposite happened. One year later, Kojima went on his online radio show (because of course he has one) and announced Enders Project was scrapped. "Right now," Kojima said (via from the HD Collection, following his departure from Konami, and the series is quietly fading into obscurity.
The Boss - mentor of Solid Snake's father, Big Boss - is one of the strongest, most complex characters in gaming. Hell, even Volgin is this idea in a video interview about Metal Gear Rising, stating "I had several ideas for a game featuring The Boss and the Cobra Unit during the invasion of Normandy."
Ultimately, it was Metal Gear Rising that won out, but the idea of a Boss-centric Metal Gear obviously stuck with Kojima. In 2012, during a PAX Prime presentation, he that while he wasn't a "huge fan of spin-offs," a Metal Gear starring The Boss was still something he'd "definitely love to make." I imagine it as Saving Private Ryan except Tom Hanks is a woman and her teammates include a dude who controls bees and someone who talks to ghosts. This would also be a great opportunity to showcase the Philosophers, an organization who immense capital fueled the plot of Snake Eater.
Turns out Phantom Pain isn't the only open world Metal Gear game Kojima was interested in creating. Speaking at the 2015 Taipei Game Show, the developer he'd love to someday play an open-world version of Shadow Moses but that currently no developer had come forward offering to make it.
This builds upon comments Kojima made months earlier when asked about remaking his games. "Personally, I’m not too fond of remakes," he said (via ) "But I would have to go with MGS1. If it was going to be a remake, I wouldn’t want to make a standard remake, but something similar to Planet of the Apes: Bringing the best of the past to the present and doing something new."
Considering how many changes (read: ) the Metal Gear universe has undergone since 1998, the original Metal Gear Solid would gain a lot from an updated script that recognized everything that has happened over the years.
In a game filled with bizarre, creepy moments, Metal Gear Solid 3's '' minigame is one of the creepiest and most bizarre. It is presented as a dream sequence (or nightmare) that triggers after Naked Snake endures the game's infamous torture scene. Beaten and broken, he collapses on a cot in his prison cell, dozes off to sleep, and then everything changes. The player is now some sort of hook sword-wielding convict who butchers zombie police officers in a hack-and-slash minigame. Everything is desaturated and there's no music, which heightens the surrealness of this sequence. Eventually, after hacking up enough enemies, Snake stirs from his slumber.
Not much else is known about 'Guy Savage' or what it was supposed to become. The game was removed from later versions of MGS3, along with any references to it. Shuyo Murata, co-director on MGS4 and writer on MGS5, is goes, Guy Savage was actually a demo for a future Konmai game that was later canceled. Now (almost) all traces of the game have faded away, much like PT.
The smoldering embers of our once blazing passion for this Silent Hill reboot/revival/reimagining still smolder across the internet. Kojima. Del Toro. A dream team mashup of two offbeat visionaries tackling a series made famous for its mind games. We're talking Chrono Trigger levels of game developer collaboration here. And then it all went up in flames. A Scorched Earth policy that burned Silent Hills to the ground and took Kojima Productions along with it, searing away Kojima's name from Konami's recent history; a revisionist history.
The silver lining, at least, is that Hideo Kojima apparently still has a passion for creating things, as evidenced by this from the Metal Gear series and has even mentioned a passion for writing and making movies. Chances are, outside of a pachinko machine, the ideas in this list will likely never see the light of day. However, there are certainly more adventures to come from the original Big Boss.
UPDATE for September 10: With two Royal Rumble’s worth of wrestlers revealed over the last fortnight, WWE 2K16’s grappler count stands at 109 – with freshly unveiled debutants including Haku, Kama Mustafa, and the Vaudevillains. We’ve updated the gallery to include every wrestler and diva announced so far.
ORIGINAL ARTICLE: While Yuke's' official WWE series has garnered mixed reviews in recent years, one area it’s always strong in is attention to detail outside of the ring, specifically arenas, wrestler entrances, and t-shirts worn by members of the crowd. In fact that latter apparel-based matter has become a flawless, ambient tie-up with each game's roster over the years. Simply, if a WWE superstar or diva is in the game, so too is their official merchandise, and vice versa. As a result, 2K’s recent of Finn Balor and Seth Rollins’ entrances inadvertently blows a good deal more future reveals, unveiling - at least to eagle-eyed fans - another 22 roster members in WWE 2K16 who haven’t yet been ‘officially’ announced.
With more than 120 wrestlers featured in the upcoming edition, there’s been a clamour for stars both old and new to join current-era combatants like John Cena and Randy Orton. And on this evidence, 2K and Yuke’s have delivered. Stalwarts The Undertaker, Shawn Michaels and The Rock are joined by the returning Bret ‘Hitman’ Hart, while NXT standouts Baron Corbin, Enzo Amore and Charlotte are among this year’s debutants. For all 22 in-game characters unveiled in this way, and an updated list of every guy and gal revealed so far, read on…
Last year the WCW legend made his WWE game debut as a pre-order incentive, ahead of his first ever in-ring appearance for the company against Triple H at WrestleMania 31. He lost that particular match, but there’s better news on the virtual front, with this unmistakable tee confirming his spot in WWE 2K16.
Eater of worlds, new face of fear, and king of the rambling nonsensical promo, Bo Dallas’s real-life big bro has spent the year racking up victories against Dolph Ziggler, Ryback and Roman Reigns before realigning with ‘family’ member Luke Harper. His return to the series after debuting last year, then, is hardly a surprise – but it’s still pleasing to have it confirmed.
Grease is the word? Meh. Try ‘woo’. That blue shirt we’ve zoomed in on here is unmistakably the ‘If you’re gonna do it, do it with Flair’ number , and former NXT Women’s champ, throughout this year. Joining her on the 2K16 roster are fellow WWE Hall Of Famer offspring: Jimmy and Jey Uso, sons of stinkface-rocking Too Cool dance buddy Rikishi.
NXT champion for much of 2015, the artist formerly known as Kevin Steen burst onto the WWE scene proper at Elimination Chamber with a five-star match against John Cena, from which he emerged victorious. Subsequent losses to WWE’s answer to Superman have dampened his heat since, but you’ll at least be able to enact revenge with Mr Pop-up Powerbomb in 2K16.
Still finding his feet in NXT, former NFL lineman Tom Pestock recently turned heel after an unsuccessful babyface run in which even former ECW favourite Rhyno failed to make him interesting. Still, there’s raw potential here – and if Corbin does make it to Raw over the next 12 months, you’ll be able to promote him similarly in-game.
Seriously injured in a match with Samoa Joe earlier this year, it’s strongly rumoured that Kidd may never wrestle again – which would be a huge shame after he and Cesaro’s innovative tag team run earlier in 2015. You’ll at least be able to reunite the pair within 2K16 – or place either in technical masterclasses against the man consider some to be the greatest ever, Shawn ‘HBK’ Michaels.
Currently used in a part-time role due to husband Tyson Kidd’s aforementioned neck knack, many experts still consider the daughter of Jim ‘The Anvil’ Neidhart to be WWE’s best in-ring female performer. Fancy seeing her embark upon a second, much-deserved Divas Championship reign? In 2K16, that power is yours.
Cody Rhodes has appeared in multiple previous WWE titles, but his alter-ego Stardust was omitted from last year’s iteration after his character switch occurred after roster finalisation. No such problem this time around. We expect brother and on-off rival Goldust – currently out injured, but still contracted to WWE – to be revealed imminently, too.
Underwhelming fan reaction at the turn of the year turned the man being groomed as John Cena Mk II into the 2015 reincarnation of Lex Luger. Which is a shame, as even an overexposed Reigns is 100 times more bearable in main events than 73 year-old Kane or 73 stone Big Show. Like him or not, he’ll be one of 2K16’s most powerful competitors.
Altogether now: ‘der-dum, dum, dum dum dum, der-dum, dum, dum dum dum…’ The beast is back in 2K16, as he had to be: no WWE performer has been as dominant over the last two years as the former UFC champ. We still await confirmation of ‘associate’ Paul Heyman’s return as a manager, but – like Lesnar’s opponents after a Brock beating – it’s a no-brainer.
Again, no surprises here. The man who was once Nicky in the Spirit Squad is now something of a WWE veteran (although we wish he’d revert to being a heel), while ‘Taker has appeared in every single one of the series’ games since it launched on PS1, as WWF Smackdown, in 2000.
Treading water since his brilliant team run with ‘stunt double’ Damien Mizdow ended, 2K16 will afford you the opportunity to turn back time and reunite that pairing – before having the star-making (in Mizdow’s case) break-up never afforded the twosome in the actual WWE. (Their eventual storyline feud was a lazily written afterthought.)
On the shelf since May with a busted shoulder, the indie darling formerly known as El Generico is unlikely to return to a WWE ring until the spring of next year. His inclusion in 2K16, then, is wonderful news for anyone looking to resuscitate the outstanding feud between Zayn and best frienemy Kevin Owens.
When GamesRadar attended NXT live in San Jose ahead of this year’s WrestleMania, no single act was cheered as fervently as the New Jersey based tag team with the contemporary New Age Outlaws schtick. Among diehard fans, there’s no doubt their 2K debut will be welcomed with equal rapture.
Sure, the shirt design is slightly different from those you can buy new, but there’s still no mistaking that this bit of apparel belongs to Calgary, Alberta, Canada’s finest son. How can we be certain? 1. The pink. 2. The skull. 3. The words ‘BRET’ and ‘HART’ emblazoned across it.
For a few months in 2014 the former Leo Kruger looked set to carve himself out a tidy niche as WWE’s comedic curtain-raiser, until a feud with ‘The Bunny’ – yes, as in a bloke in a furry costume – wrecked his credibility. Now in his mid-‘30s, the odds on this being his last 2K appearance seem troublingly short.
22 years after the Alpine-sized Frenchman’s passing, Andre remains one of the most famous names in wrestling. At 7ft tall and 520lbs, he’s the biggest superstar in this year’s game, and the inclusion of Haku enables the reformation of one of WWE’s all-time strangest couplings – one which held the tag titles for four months in early 1990.
Another year, another repackaging for the only Preston North End fan ever to grace wrestling’s big leagues. This time around he’s King Barrett, although you’re unlikely to see him onscreen again in the immediate future – he’s currently back in the UK filming the new WWE Studios movie Eliminators.
It’s now more than a year since Big Dave’s last match, a barnstorming six-man melee between Evolution and The Shield at Payback 2014. He’s since earned rave reviews as Drax in Guardians Of The Galaxy, and will play the main villain in next Bond flick Spectre – making 2K16 the only way to see him in a WWE ring anytime soon.
Nikki Bella – AKA Mr John Cena – was never expected to miss out on 2K16 after holding the Divas Championship since November of last year, and twin Brie’s been an equally prominent performer on Raw and Smackdown. Still, accomplice Alicia Fox’s return after missing out last year is a mite unexpected, although very much welcome.
Alas, the ‘please retire’ chants which accompany every slow Show snooze-a-thon aren’t likely to find their way into 2K16 – derogatory fan chants are an area where WWE isn’t seeking believability. And to be fair, his power-packed move set makes him way more fun to play as in-game than he is to watch in real life.
Irwin R Schyster’s baby boy has been treading water for the last few months, reduced to comedy jobber status and obliterated by Brock Lesnar and The Rock, to name two. A link-up with real-life older sibling Bray Wyatt would instantly revitalise him, but WWE clearly isn’t interested in such a natural tandem. No matter: put them together in the game instead.
Now firmly entrenched as a member of the WWE commentary team, T nonetheless remains active on the company’s virtual roster despite not having had a match since WrestleMania 28 – more than three years ago. This will be his 26th video game appearance dating back to PS1’s WCW Nitro in 1997.
Shockingly, it’s 13 years since Davey Boy Smith – and yes, that is his real middle name – marched off to the great squared circle in the sky. Yet he remains one of the most famous Brit grapplers ever, and his inclusion here enables fans to relive perhaps the greatest Intercontinental Title bout of all time: his titanic tilt with brother-in-law Bret Hart at Summerslam 1992.
Naomi’s former Funkadactyls partner has been lost in the mix during the summer’s ‘Divas Revolution’, with NXT call-ups such as Charlotte and Sasha Banks rendering her something of an irrelevance. Yet her involvement here is welcome, if only as cannon fodder for those more talented dames.
Y2K chooses to wrestle on a part-time basis these days, splitting his schedule between WWE house shows and rock projects with his band, Fozzy. But a riveting curtain-raiser against Brit newcomer Neville, in a Tokyo Dome show broadcast on the WWE Network, showed he’s lost none of the ability that made him the first ever unified world champion.
The son of Curt ‘Mr Perfect’ Hennig earned himself a surge of fan support earlier this year with his ‘Axelmania’ tribute to Hulk Hogan – only to disappear entirely after a racism row saw all Hulkster references consigned to history by WWE. He’ll likely have a better 2016 in videogame arenas than real life ones.
Like Axel, Sandow’s push was immediately curtailed by the Hulk Hogan race row – he’d been teaming with ‘Axelmania’ as Randy Savage parody Macho Mandow. It’s back to generic theme tune and appearance, then, for one of WWE’s most under-utilised talents (and best mic performers) as 2K16 cartwheels into view.
Ack, that likeness. DDP had, by some margin, the worst-modelled hair in all of WWE 2K15, so let’s hope co-developer Yuke’s have put time into fixing that. If so, a legend vs legend-killer feud with Randy Orton surely beckons – Page’s Diamond Cutter finisher is almost identical to the Viper’s deadly RKO.
A second injury-plagued year on the spin has led some to speculate that wrestling’s most beloved babyface may have contested his final match, although he denies such claims. While the wait for a real-life comeback goes on, at least his videogame inclusion provides the opportunity for more title wins and five-star bouts with old indie circuit nemesis Cesaro.
The one-time Shield member – and Mr Renee Young – won the biggest belt of all at Elimination Chamber, only for the decision to be reversed due to referee shenanigans. He’s had barely a sniff of gold since, but be assured that many fans’ first move after grabbing the new game will be to follow through on the title switch WWE refused to let stand.
Strangely, 2K hasn’t yet confirmed the inclusion of Gunn’s New Age Outlaws tag partner, Road Dogg Jesse James. That seems likely to happen in the coming weeks; for now, crotch chop yourself silly over the news that these two members of DX have their tickets on this year’s grapple train booked, printed and in the first class post.
The kings of the ladder match are both now sadly retired, although have been known to make the odd appearance on Raw. Christian still elicits chants for ‘one more match’, but the Rated-R Superstar is definitely done for good after a number of serious neck injuries. Thankfully, you can un-retire him in the virtual ring instead.
Without lowering the tone, this import from the land of Neighbours might have the best body in WWE – so it always seemed insane that WWE saddled her with a wacky outfit and dancing idiot gimmick. Now restyled – literally and figuratively – in NXT, she’s set for a kickass 12 months on both the real and virtual stage.
Miss ‘All Red Everything’ is WWE’s pet project in the developmental NXT brand, much to the annoyance of hardcore fans who (correctly) insist she can’t wrestle. Still, in a year where the most of the contemporary roster is returning from 2015, even the most bitter critic will rejoice at seeing another series debutant.
After numerous failed stints as a bad guy, the fleet-footed former Johnny Curtis finally embraced the fans this year, to an overwhelmingly positive reaction. Which lasted two weeks. Reckon you can book him better than Vinny Mac and co? Boot up WWE Universe mode and get to work.
This shillelagh-wielding Irishman experienced a series of Indian summers between 2005 and 2009, turning in hard-hitting contests with Matt Hardy, Rey Mysterio and Bobby Lashley, to name three. Sadly, his videogame likeness stems from much longer ago – his WCW stint saddled with dodgy leather jacket and awful mullet. Sigh.
The reigning NXT champion was the first wrestler revealed for this year’s game, thanks largely to his elaborate ring entrance – which Yuke’s have recreated with a surgical eye for detail. It helps, of course, that the Irishman made himself available for mo-cap duties. One of 2K16’s most exciting newcomers.
How quickly times change. This time last year The Bizarre One was a fixture on WWE TV alongside brother Cody, who together formed one of the company’s freshest duos in years. But a lacklustre break-up storyline saw fans lose interest in both ahead of WrestleMania – before an April injury condemned Goldust to months on the shelf. First priority for WWE 2K16, then: the reunification of the Brothers Rhodes.
This must rank as the biggest shock inclusion of all – a high-kicking Tongan machine who hasn’t been seen in a WWE game since Raw on the original Xbox. The only shame is that his return comes a couple of years too late to team him with son Camacho, who departed WWE last year and now wrestles as Micah in rival fed TNA.
Bray Wyatt’s longstanding henchmen reunited in May, ending Rowan’s experimental run as a babyface. A fresh link-up with Wyatt was expected soon after, until a bicep tear sent Rowan to rehab and opened up a spot in Bray’s ‘family’ for newcomer Braun Strowman. The latter’s call-up came too late for him to make the 2K16 cut, however, so the ginger one will have to make do for those wishing to reconcile the cultish clan.
After the dismissal of 3MB squad-mates Jinder Mahal and Drew McIntyre, Slater’s days in WWE seemed numbered – but mercifully, company bosses appear to recognise that he’s one of the best enhancement talents it has. And who knows: now he’s been restored to the videogame roster, perhaps the odd victory or three isn’t out of the question.
Not even 14 glorious years in Japan were enough to fast-track Kenta Kobayashi to WWE’s main roster; just like all other new signings, he was first dispatched to developmental territory NXT and given an unfamiliar name. A persistent shoulder injury has further delayed his chances of promotion, but this videogame debut should provide a measure of comfort.
WWE’s resident Elvis impersonator was consistently hopeless as an in-ring performer – but that even didn’t prevent him carrying the Intercontinental Championship for 454 days after defeating Ricky Steamboat in June 1987, a record that still stands. That feat alone just about justifies his insertion here.
Most found the former Acolyte’s WWE Championship reign to be the perfect cure for insomnia, yet a switch to the commentary desk has transformed Layfield from humdrum villain to cult hero. Listen out for the comedic cow moo just after his music kicks in – an ingeniously subtle nod to his Texan upbringing.
Next year will mark the All-American American’s ninth in WWE, but his star has fallen a fair distance since his 2010 World Heavyweight Championship reign. Indeed, many assumed he was gone for good after deleting his Twitter account earlier in the summer, but he’s still holding on to a roster spot – and thus makes the cut for this year’s game.
Personal problems plagued the real life Aurelian Smith Jr for decades, as showcased in 1999 documentary Beyond The Mat. But moving in with fellow grappler (and yoga guru) Diamond Dallas Page sparked a change of mindset, and luck – The Snake was inducted into the Hall Of Fame in 2014, and makes a triumphant return to WWE games here as a result.
Back in August, we confirmed Bret Hart before anyone else thanks to some T-shirt rated super-sleuthery – and now the Hitman’s tag partner (and brother-in-law) is also invited to the pink-and-black party. It’s crushing news for Erick Rowan, who can no longer claim the fictional-but-real-to-us in-game title of ‘bestest ginger beard’.
Whisper it, but the much-maligned WWE answer to Superman has been the company’s MVP this year. His feud with Rusev far surpassed expectations, and a summer series against Kevin Owens delivered two of 2015’s standout matches. His knockers remain critical, but few deserve their placing here more than Mr Wash-Your-Mouth-Like-Colgate.
Masked, unmasked, masked, unmasked… Kane’s status in WWE these days essentially equates to being an unsubtle Scooby Doo villain. For this year’s 2K outing, he’s back to the shaven-head-and-scary-eyed look – but you can bet that there’ll be a version of his masked character available for unlocking as part of the Steve Austin showcase mode.
He’s bad, he’s bad, he’s really, really… angry when you try to summarise him using Michael Jackson lyrics. Probably. The ass-kicking, ankle-breaking former UFC champ’s last series appearance came in WWE 2K13, where we had him link-up with pretend porn star Val Venis in a tandem called ‘Shamrock Hard’. You can have that one for free, Vince.
With Hulk Hogan and Scott Hall both in WWE’s naughty books, the once-famed NWO is reduced to a one-man army in this year’s official game. You won’t have to wait long to reunite the dastardly trio, mind – more creative options than ever mean fan versions of both Hulkster and Razor will inevitably be available within days of release. Phew.
Recently retired, WWE’s first diva search winner departs the company in style with a series comeback after surprisingly missing out in 2K15. And you’ll need her if you plan to bring back the Women’s Championship in Universe mode – the title was retired in 2010, but she’s technically the reigning belt-holder.
The Narcissist’s 1993 repackaging as an American hero, complete with a flag-trumpeting tour bus called the Lex Express, remains one of WWE’s greatest mis-steps. Yet the mulleted muscle-man //did// have a successful run in WCW prior to that. Foes Ric Flair and Sting’s inclusions here provide a welcome chance to relive those halcyon days.
Tougher than a decade-old stick of Blackpool Rock, this wily British vet adheres to a strictly-offscreen brief these days as general manager of NXT. Even so, grap fans will delight in his making the roster as it sets up hard-hitting, hold-heavy dream matches with his most famous protege, Daniel Bryan – a man who wears burgundy in Regal’s honour.
After a promising Raw debut the night after WrestleMania, Kalisto and Sin Cara found their opportunities limited throughout the summer months. Even so, both have movesets which lend themselves perfectly to high-flying videogame insanity. Recommendation: Stick them up against Kidd and Cesaro and let the lunatic high spots unfold.
Having gone the entire noughties without appearing in a WWE game, Savage is now considered a series regular. This will be his third consecutive appearance – although last year, unlike in 2K14, it came without ex-wife and manager Miss Elizabeth by his side. Hopefully that’s rectified this time around.
After retracting his likeness from last year’s game because he felt the royalties were insufficient, Mick returns for 2K16 – and he’s clearly happy with the potential paycheque this time, as all three of his famous characters are in. That means Dude Love, Mankind, Cactus Jack… and sad times for long-term rival Triple H.
You can’t have a bespoke Stone Cold mode without his arch-enemy coming to the party armed with Popeye biceps and a three-sizes-too-small wife-beater. The big boss just turned 70 in real life, but in-game he looks not a day over 45 – just young enough for a few more bloody tussles with the bad-ass bald beardie.
The announcement of these ‘Team BAD’ members is good news… so long as it’s followed-up by confirmation that stablemate Sasha Banks is in too. Banks is WWE’s best female wrestler right now, and the game won’t feel complete without her to grapple rivals such as Paige and Charlotte. Cross your fingers and watch this space.
D-Lo Brown! Kama Mustafa! Faarooq! Now 2K really is spoiling us. This late-nineties’ faction helped The Rock become a bona fide grap legend, but as a collective have been absent from WWE’s virtual offerings for more than a decade. “Finally… the trio… has come back… to the pretend-o-ring!” as The Great One would, uh, never actually say.
Newcastle’s pocket rocket took his WWE videogame bow this time last year, and soon followed that up with a promotion from NXT to the main roster. Now established as the company’s premier high-flyer, his supremely acrobatic moveset should mean lots of online use – and a disheartening amount of top-rope move spamming.
The leader of Team PCB (it stands for Paige, Charlotte and Becky – original, no?) hasn’t been able to wrestle Nikki Bella’s Divas Championship away in 2015, but remains the most popular lady on the roster. Sadly, she’s not yet cut a promo based upon follow Norwich madam Delia Smith’s infamous ‘let’s beeee ‘avin you’ halftime rant at Carrow Road.
Titus O’Neil is another of the E’s most overlooked all-rounders – although over the summer he and Darren Young did finally score the tag title run they should have been granted years ago. Better together than they ever were as solo combatants, don’t make the same mistake WWE did by placing them in a flat, lazily-booked break-up storyline.
The man once known as K-Kwik has had an uneventful 2015, with his one major fued – against King Barrett – petering out after something like 41 identical matches. His likeness, however, is one of WWE 2K16’s most accurate, which should ensure he gets a decent quota of match time over the coming months.
Our recommendation for what to do as soon as you boot up WWE 2K16: jump into Universe Mode and switch the Viper back to being a heel. Orton’s best work has always been delivered to fan jeers, and his methodical, even ponderous, moveset is a much better fit for a nefarious bad guy.
Woo! With daughter Charlotte appearing in a WWE game for the first time, there was no way Yuke’s could omit this Limousine riding, jet flying, kiss-stealing, wheeling-dealing son of a gun – giving you the opportunity to add to his 16 previous World Championship reigns, should you so wish. Come on, one more for the road: Woooo!
The Ravishing one enjoyed a storied career, from unforgettable feuds with Jake Roberts and the Ultimate Warrior, to a reinvention as DX’s original manager and mouthpiece. He sadly passed away in 1999, but features here for the second year in a row: potentially facilitating an unlikely reunion with Shawn Michaels and Triple H.
Stiiiiink-face! Daddy Uso’s finisher, in which he introduces his ample backside to a fallen foe’s grill, is as low brow and downright immature as wrestling gets… so naturally, we’re delighted to see him, and said cheek-to-cheek move, return to the series. We give it five matches before you’re inflicting it on John Cena.
The second coming of Skip Sheffield looked to be a spectacular one when, in 2012, a long unbeaten run propelled Ryback into a WWE Championship match with CM Punk. But the company ditched the idea of giving him the gold, and fans lost interest. Finally regaining traction as the reigning Intercontinental Champion, he’ll be one of the highest rated brawlers in 2K16.
The Cobra-brandishing Italian (who’s actually from, er, Ontario) officially retired through injury in June of 2014. Yet rumours of a comeback have persisted, and will only be strengthened by him appearing in WWE 2K16 despite not featuring on Raw or Smackdown since the turn of the year.
A major frustration with WWE 2K15 was Rollins being stuck with his old Shield attire and theme – particularly grating given that he’s been WWE World Heavyweight Champion since cashing in his Money In The Bank contract at WrestleMania 31. His new(ish) attire and theme do make 2K16, but it still grates that we’ve had to wait 12 months for them.
Vince’s son and heir shockingly exited WWE in 2013 for a new career away from wrestling. Many assumed, therefore, that he’d never be seen in a videogame again; making his confirmation for 2K16 a huge, yet very welcome, shock. But will he ally with sister Steph or kickstart a furious blood feud? That choice is yours, and yours alone.
The fighting Irishman and 2015 Money In The Bank victor has been a series mainstay for more than half a decade, yet this will be the first 2K game to feature his updated mohican hairstyle and signficantly-better-yet-still-a-bit-rubbish entrance music. A power-laden moveset should make him more fun to play than watch.
This nefarious trio infamously faced off against Hulk Hogan and Ultimate Warrior in a handicap match at Summerslam ’91, which has aged terribly – and it was hardly a classic in the first place. Still, with more good guys than bad appearing as 2K16 legends, it’s handy to have three pantomime villains to knock into shape.
With more than forty WWE games on his CV, Triple H sitting this one out was never feasible. But it’s still ace news to have wife Stephanie McMahon returning as a playable character, particularly with the company teasing a match against all-conquering UFC goddess Ronda Rousey at next year’s WrestleMania.
As Rusev’s main squeeze and Lana’s big rival, this former Lingerie Football League star (yes, really) is in the midst of her most noteworthy WWE storyline since being called up from NXT in 2013. Alas, developer time constraints means it’s her old, pre-Bulgarian-Brute character model that’s utilised in WWE 2K16.
No, that isn’t a typo: WWE 2K16 sees the wrestling videogame debut of one Mr A. Schwarzenegger, as the game’s main pre-order incentive. His inclusion stems from a collaboration with Triple H at this year’s WrestleMania, in which the Cerebral Assassin was accompanied to the ring by a legion of murderous cyborgs.
Yes, that is man in a feather boa. And yes, he is carrying a selfie stick. Channeling character elements of Dino Bravo, The Model Rick Martel, Shawn Michaels and The Miz, Breeze is picking up steam as one of NXT’s brightest talents – and a main roster call-up to mirror this first WWE game appearance can’t be far away.
We’re still not over Warrior’s untimely death shortly after 2014’s WrestleMania, but his inclusion in the WWE game for a third straight year at least keeps his memory alive. Sadly, Hulk Hogan’s removal means no way to relive their WrestleMania VI classic; those wishing to do that will need to backtrack to WWE 2K14.
Yes, we’ve paired them together, simply because they’re the two most athletic big men ever to set foot in the squared circle. The twosome notably aligned to face the Steiner Brothers in Japan in 1992, but Bigelow’s death in 2007 sadly prevents them from ever doing so again. In real life, anyway. Handy things, these “videogames”.
It’s been a month that Aiden English and Simon Gotch would likely describe as splendiferous. The theatrical twosome snared gold for the first time the night before Summerslam, defeating Blake Murphy for the NXT tag titles, and now their first appearances in a WWE video game have been confirmed too. Take a bow, boys.
Woo, woo, woo… he’s back. Fans were, quite rightly, incensed last year when the Hype Bro was left off the roster – no doubt because WWE has never valued him as highly as his 1.7 million Twitter followers. There’s no such mistake this time around, and you’d fancy his new partner Mojo Rawley to also make the cut in due course.
Well, duh. Like the great one was going to miss out on a WWE game for the first time in forever. Rocky’s inclusion rounds out the names revealed so far to 109, just a dozen-or-so short of the final line-up. That makes the full, current list (*deep breath*):
dam Rose, Aiden English, Alicia Fox, Andre The Giant, Bad News Barrett, Bam Bam Bigelow, Baron Corbin, Batista, Big Show/Paul Wight, Billy Gunn, Bo Dallas, Booker T, Bray Wyatt, Bret Hart, Brie Bella, British Bulldog, Brock Lesnar, Cameron, Cesaro, Charlotte, Chris Jericho, Christian, Col Mustafa, Colin Cassady, Curtis Axel, D-Lo Brown, Daniel Bryan, Dean Ambrose, Darren Young, Damien Sandow, Diamond Dallas Page, Dolph Ziggler, Edge, Emma, Enzo Amore, Erick Rowan, Eva Marie, Fandango, Farrooq, Finn Balor, Fit Finlay, General Adnan, Goldust, Haku, Heath Slater, Hideo Itami, Honky Tonk Man, JBL, Jack Swagger, Jake Roberts, Jey Uso, Jim Neidhart, John Cena, Jimmy Uso, Kalisto, Kama Mustafa, Kane, Ken Shamrock, Kevin Nash, Kevin Owens, Layla, Leg Luger, Lord Steven Regal, Luke Harper, Mankind/Dude Love/Cactus Jack, The Miz, Naomi, Natalya, Neville, Nikki Bella, Paige, R-Truth, Randy Orton, Randy Savage, Ric Flair, Rick Rude, Rikishi, The Rock, Roman Reigns, Ryback, Sami Zayn, Santino Marella, Seth Rollins, Sgt Slaughter, Shane McMahon, Shawn Michaels, Sheamus, Simon Gotch, Sin Cara, Stardust, Stephanie McMahon, Sting, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Summer Rae, Tamina, The Terminator, Titus O’Neil, Triple H, Tyler Breeze, Tyson Kidd, Ultimate Warrior, The Undertaker, Vader, Vince McMahon, X-Pac, Zack Ryder.
If you haven't already heard the news, 2K and Lionsgate Entertainment announced a Borderlands movie last week, and the response has been a resounding "Huh?" As a series that's infamously light on story and heavy on shooting wildly in every direction, Borderlands hardly seems to warrant a film adaptation - even the most generous critics predict at least 40 minutes of the movie will be allotted to weapon respecing.
But before you write it off as a shameless cash-in (months before shooting of any kind starts), consider that a story-centric Borderlands might not be as bad as the internet has thus far decreed. In fact, the so-far-stellar builds itself on a foundation of Borderlands' narrative qualities, proving there's more to this universe than screaming guns and monsters shaped like genitalia. Borderlands has all the pieces of a great movie and while, yes, you can probably expect many minutes of fiery gunfights and crash-bang car chases from Hollywood's Borderlands treatment, that isn't all the screenwriters have to work with.
The world of Pandora at first seems barren and basic, a thin environmental backdrop so you're not just shooting at stick figures running around in white space. But look a few inches past your rifle sight and you'll find a vibrant, living world looking back, its history on display in every blathering Psycho, weapon logo, and normal-looking young woman who goes on regular jaunts through another dimension. But don't take my word for it: a gander at the proves the point just fine.
That leaves the directorial mind behind this adaptation with plenty of room to move in just about any direction they'd like. They could do a straight retelling of any of the series' existing games, recreating the race to open the first Pandoran vault or the mystery of the being called Angel. Or it could rocket off to parts unknown, covering a brand new story from elsewhere in the timeline. Remember how Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel literally took the cast to the moon for the purposes of corporate warfare? There are a lot of options here, is what I'm saying.
While some game movies have to deal with source material that gives them nothing to work with but iron-jawed muscle men in wardrobes of brown and grey, this film will have no such trouble. There's enough wise-cracking robots, assassins who speak in emoticons, and sadistic clowns in low-cut tops in Borderlands that the movie is all but guaranteed an eclectic and memorable cast.
How likeable they are will of course depend on how they're written and cast - if we get a bunch of generic Video Game Heroes that are meant to be audience placeholders, there goes one of the film's great assets down the garbage chute. But if the team behind the film keeps to Borderlands' eccentric and loveable brand of character design (how else do you explain the widespread love for Claptrap and Tiny Tina?), we can expect an ensemble that will keep all eyes on the screen, even if it's just out of morbid fascination.
When you think of Borderlands, you probably picture an endless swath of desert with a run-down, neo-western vibe and way too many corpses. But that's really only a fraction of what Pandora has to offer - sun-scorched wastelands and shantytowns exist alongside lush underground caves, soaring mountain peaks, and idyllic crater lakes. Of course, they're still full of monsters that'll eat you alive (especially the sea monster living in that deceptively lovely basin), but peace isn't the point here. The point is the Borderlands movie will have plenty of gorgeous environments to work with, and can get as creative as it likes with whatever setting(s) it chooses to use.
The only hard and fast rule is that there has to be some kind of monster for the heroes to fight (and we're talking a ). Everything else is up to the writers' (hopefully whacked out) imaginations, and even a globetrotting adventure where the cast explores all of Pandora's ecological wonders could be in the cards. If Tales from the Borderlands can invent a giant garden in the middle of Pandora's arctic circle, then Pandora clearly has no trouble supporting creative new environments and ideas.
This one's a bit tricky, since Borderlands' reliance on memes and dick jokes for its comedy isn't to everyone's taste. But any film that aims to do the series justice will at least try to be funny, and that's an anti-gravity moon leap in the right direction. In a world where too many video game adaptations are humorless and devoid of cheer, we need less Max Payne and more Mortal Kombat; a Borderlands movie has the best chance to deliver.
While it's almost inevitable that a SO I HEARD YOU LIKE GUNS gag will show up at some point, that isn't the only type of humor that works in the Borderlands world. There's also some deft use of screwball comedy and irony that has a lot less juvenile appeal. Sure, monsters called bonerfarts may be a thing, but that's a lot more tolerable when it appears alongside . In terms of being laughed-til-I-cried funny, the Borderlands games give the film a place to start; with luck and with a little smart direction, it could be the Kingsman of video game adaptions. In fact, you know what? Just give Matt Vaughn the job right now.
I said earlier that there's more to Borderlands than guns, but I never said the guns couldn't show up. Borderlands without ridiculous shootouts would be like Metal Gear Solid without plot twists, or Final Fantasy without hair gel - not the series we've come to know and love. A proper jaunt through Pandora is a blood-pumping and blood-spilling experience, full of frantic battles that overflow with colorful destruction and violent glee. It's perfect for a summer action blockbuster, and any production company worth their reels will put that to use.
Borderlands even has an extra leg up in this category over other popular shooters, because there's a ton of variety in how its battles actually look. The heroes aren't always mowing down waves of grunts before jogging to the next checkpoint and doing it all over again. Sometimes they do that, but other times they take down colossal beasts that could crush them into banditcakes, or smash down on packs of moon monsters with the help of limited gravity. When gripes about technical difficulties are no longer part of the equation, the sheer strangeness of Borderlands' action shines.
Look at that handsome SOB. Just look at him, and think about all the evil shit he does while still reveling in the fanbase's love. A dangerous mix of charisma and outright sociopathy, Handsome Jack is easily one of the most complex characters in all of Borderlands, the sort of guy who calls himself a hero then complains that the civilian he just stabbed got blood on his jacket. And even though you're aware he's a mass-murdering, child-abusing, back-stabbing bastard, he's also bizarrely charming, intelligent, and incredibly funny. You fall for his schemes even when you know better.
Basically, he's the Most Interesting Asshole Alive, and no Borderlands movie would be complete without him. Because we need him. We need Handsome Jack.
There are micro-spoilers throughout this piece, just so you know.
Metal Gear Solid 5 has a significant portion of the world in its steely, bionic grip right now, its perilously deep take on stealth-action making rote activities endlessly playable. I’ve run the same soldier-kidnapping side op around five times, experimenting with increasingly outlandish techniques to stick a balloon to a man’s abdomen, like I’m the antagonist in this Soviet conscript’s recurring nightmare.
A major element of that keenness to replay doesn’t come from the fact that I’m able to do it in different ways, however - it’s the accompanying reward that comes with it. That poor, haunted soldier is brought back to Mother Base, the neon pink paradise I’m building in the Seychelles, which has become a key factor in my obsession. And that reminds me of a certain something...
My home is nothing less than an isolated soldier town over which I have control, but which evolves at very much its own pace. It’s filled with a variety of colourful characters who love, rely on and, occasionally, betray me - and I, in my way, both adore and abuse them back. It’s filled with treasure hidden by god-knows-who, speckled with my own designs and, occasionally, filled with song, picked by yours truly.
Simply replace the word “soldier” with “chimeric fauna-sapien biped” in that last paragraph, and you also have a fitting description of any Animal Crossing game, Nintendo’s gentle, idiosyncratic life sim series. AC’s influence, improbably, is all over The Phantom Pain (and not just in Mother Base) - and becomes a huge part of what makes it both so charming and brain-strangling. Here come the wheres and the whys.
Animal Crossing games are part-canvas by design, built on your ability to imprint a piece of yourself on them. Creating a town flag, designing clothes and decorating your house are key parts of how the game makes itself feel like you’ve had a hand in creating it. The Phantom Pain learns from this well.
Just because the game tells you that your mercenary company/army/nation is called Diamond Dogs doesn’t mean you can’t design an emblem that seems to suggest it’s called “FAT HORSE” instead. Almost every tiny detail of the game can be modified, down to whether Snake wears a scarf while out and about. Some of these things can make minute differences to the game, and you could also argue that their real function is to give you a sense of easy control in a game that often seeks to take it away during missions. But really it’s because you’re more likely to keep playing if you can keep making tweaks - if you’re never fully satisfied, you probably won’t stop.
People collect rocks in real life. That’s a real thing people do. Not because they’ve found one rock that’s better at hurling into a sheep’s eye to provide dinner, but because rocks, for some reason, make them feel a bit more complete. Most games understand the lure of collection, of course, but few go to the lengths that Animal Crossing or MGS 5 do to replicate that feeling of completion - because earning something doesn’t necessarily mean you feel like you own it.
Animal Crossing contains any number of collections, all earned in different ways. The town museum's stocked by interacting with the world, while priceless art is earned by outwitting a fox once a week. That they also become useful or curious after collecting them is the point - you want to finish the job for more reasons than weird lizard-brain possessive desire.
There are some obvious parallels in The Phantom Pain - stolen animals are eventually made part of a zoo on Mother Base, and cassettes (heard in the wild and nabbed, like K.K. Slider’s songs), can be played by you or your helicopter. But it goes further - developed weapons can become part of your Combat Unit’s arsenal, for example, and enemies themselves are an infinite collectible, the Fulton Balloon essentially an incredibly efficient version of Animal Crossing’s villager-wooing campsite. Everything has a use after you're finished with it.
Decoration and collection both give you a measure of conscious decision-making over the world, but AC and MGS distinguish themselves by making your influence on the world something you can’t necessarily control. There comes a beautiful moment in every Animal Crossing where the silent algorithm in the sky decides that one of your custom designs will be the new village trend, and suddenly everyone’s walking around wearing a pattern you originally made to be a carpet tile.
Playing Metal Gear, I eavesdropped on two soldiers having a whispered discussion about a deadly sniper in the area, with some colour thrown in about how everyone had started wearing helmets to protect themselves. It only occurred to me a day later - after some ricocheted would-be headshots - that they were talking about me. Just by being there, and playing the way that felt most natural, I had changed how the world worked around me. Both situations adopt your style of play and then adapt it. In MGS, I had to start using new weaponry. In Animal Crossing, I immediately made a shirt that said “Satan”. Different responses, granted, but they come from the same place. It offers a sense of pleasure and curiosity - you could disrupt the world by doing anything, and it will disrupt you back.
Key to both games is that you’re not /quite/ in control of everything - mostly shown in how you’re made to wait for the things you really want. Animal Crossing pushes this to occasionally absurd lengths, making you wait full weeks for tiny additions (tip: QR code-reading machines are not worth talking to hedgehogs for), presumably in the hope that you’ll not only keep coming back, but throw yourself into different parts of the game when you do.
Building Mother Base piece-by-piece provides a similar (shorter) feeling. If you need more space for RD, you might pass the time by collecting personnel to fill the second research platform you’re building, or go further afield and try and nab that bear you’ve been after for the zoo. You’re ping-ponged between systems, giving you a more comprehensive view of the game simply because you can’t have it all at once. It’s arguable that by making this passage of time only available while actually playing the game, MGS actually does it better than Animal Crossing, which you can simply turn off - but that’s not to say that there aren’t effects over full days, too.
The passage of time is hugely important to Animal Crossing, a game that actively encourages you to play over the course of a calendar - there are weekly, monthly, quarterly and yearly events, and the sheer size of the game holds up to playing in between those special occasions. The Phantom Pain (probably) won’t live up to quite the same timescale - not least because it actually has a storyline - but it replicates some of that approach. Daily rewards are the simplest means of tempting you back, but the very fact that the game gives you a meaningless, delightful cutscene for playing on your birthday paves the way for more unseen surprises.
Both games offer more esoteric rewards for coming back repeatedly, too. Villagers and mercenaries alike simply like seeing you, offering intangible bonuses when they do so. And it cuts both ways - don’t play for long enough, and your Animal Crossing character will look like shit when they emerge from their Standby mode hibernation, while Big Boss will look like sand-crusted Carrie if he doesn’t head back to Mother Base for showers in between bloodbaths.
Of course, part of the pleasure of customisation is in seeing how other people have taken the same base template and altered it. Animal Crossing has always intimated that you’re part of some bizarre world of villages, allowing you to head to friends’ towns to see their work. Continued server trouble might mean that few have seen Metal Gear’s Mother Base invasions, but the idea remains consistent - you might be heading there for some reward, but it’s always going to be a pleasure to poke around and see how you could be doing things a little better.
You might argue that MGS’ gleeful suggestion that you sabotage someone else’s work goes against Animal Crossing’s hand-holdy, sing-songy internal message, but I once found OXM editor Matthew Castle digging the word “JERK” in potholes across a forgotten corner of my particular leafy paradise and I’ve never forgiven him.
Key to the beginning of any Animal Crossing is that you’ve entered a world you can comprehend, but might never quite fathom. The entire genesis of the series comes from Katsuya Eguchi’s feelings of isolation when he moved to a new city, and that’s given a weird reflection in stuff like freaking out about finding unconscious quizmaster gulls on the beach. Metal Gear is a similarly personal proposition, the digital confluence of Kojima’s hobbies, beliefs and quirks and, as such, never seems quite to belong to the player. You’re roaming about in a man’s head, with all the depth of obscure detail that entails.
Both games make that a facet of how you play - events you can’t comprehend become fascinating, leading to experimentation and, finally, just telling stories to your friends. You might not realise that playing a certain recording can send people to sleep, or that a sapling planted in shadow will grow at a different rate to one in full sunlight. That which of those two things come from which game might not be immediately clear is sort of the point - both of them are such tiny, weird parts of such enormous projects as to seem almost insignificant. Which makes the fact that they’re in there all the more satisfying to those that find them.
The Phantom Pain contains enough hybrid DNA to be classified as one of Animal Crossing's creepy residents - they work to the same goals, partly to keep you entertained but also to worm their way into your brain, leaving you not only convinced that there's more to do, but that there's more to each game than you can possibly understand.
In fact, there is so much to compare between The Phantom Pain and Animal Crossing that I’ve had to leave many of the less categorisable ideas out. Here are some extra similarities between the two:
- Animals with human names/humans with animal names
- The cruel realities of a lack of fiscal responsibility
- Soundtrack music becomes part of the fabric of the world
- Changes to the world are persistent
- You can attack friendly NPCs non-lethally, and they ultimately still love you, making you feel like a cruel deity
- You can dress up horses and dogs
Hideo Kojima is many things: ingenious game developer, enigmatic personality, avid film buff. .
Given all the dirty secrets strewn throughout the series, it's a wonder how Kojima and his team weren't being marched into the HR department on a regular basis. To show you what we mean, we've gathered some of the most incredibly not-safe-for-work moments from throughout Snake's many missions. Whether you're viewing these lewd bits in this article or in-game, just pray that nobody suddenly walks in on you, or there will definitely be a loud chime and a red exclamation mark over somebody's head.
There's a part near the end of MGS3 where you have to lead Eva through a dense jungle toward freedom, but if you hit her with a tranquilizer dart, she'll fall asleep and have some rather vivid dreams, starring her and one Naked Snake. Bonus NSFW: During this gameplay sequence, you can pop into the Cure menu and take a glance at Eva's medical history. One of the items on the list is a breast augmentation, which you'll probably notice if you rotate her X-ray model around.
Each of the members in the Beauty and the Beast unit is both glamorous and terrifying. After destroying their mechanical form, they shed their armor to reveal a gorgeous runway model clad in a skin-tight latex suit who hunts you down like a demon from a Japanese horror flick. But if you don't neutralize the boss within a few minutes, you're both transported to an all-white room for three minutes, and it's here that the Beauty will actually pose for photos if you equip your camera. It's bizarrely exploitative, even for Metal Gear - especially when Drebin recounts their sordid backstory for you after you take them out.
Quiet's manner of dress certainly leaves little to the imagination, and The Phantom Pain at least wearing a handkerchief and ripped fishnet stockings in the Afghan desert is a proper outfit for a sniper. When you recruit Quiet and visit her in her cell, you'll find her lounging around, most likely with her top undone as she sunbathes on her cot. Sometimes, she'll shower, just kind of… standing there and rubbing herself as the water falls from the spigot, then kneeling down and slowly splashing around in the puddles. Again, there's a reason for it, but, uh, yeah.
The soldiers of the Metal Gear Solid universe are easily distracted - whether it's a noise they hear in the distance, or a box lying on the ground, they'll probably break from their patrol and take a look. That goes double for the, erm, "gentleman's" magazines you can leave lying around on the ground. Plop one on the ground with its centerfold visible, and once the enemy's got it in its sights, you've got a good few minutes of uninterrupted sneaking.
Whether you're a high-school student or a hardened terrorist occupying Big Shell, it can be nice to cover up the cold, dreary metal of a locker's interior with an image of someone you find attractive. Snake will sometimes stumble on posters of bikini girls when hiding out in MGS2's lockers, and switching to the first-person perspective ensures that it's all up in your face. If you continuously zoom in and out, you'll hear the gooshy squelch of a 'kiss', the controller will start to gently vibrate, and Otacon will scold you on the codec with a good bit of shaming. The embarrassed, mouth-agape look on Snake's face says it all.
In keeping with series tradition, the sword-combat-centric spin-off Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance has images of voluptuous women plastered in the most random places. Now, one of the main hooks in Revengeance is Blade Mode, which lets you rapidly slash Raiden's sword at any angle you choose. And these pin-up posters just happen to be covered in yellow "KEEP OUT" tape, arranged just so to make it look like the women are naked underneath; slicing it away reveals that these models are in fact wearing bikinis. And in one instance, trying to cut the clothes off a cardboard cutout instantly replaces it with another cutout of the same woman, now dressed in leather. The hell?
In Metal Gear Solid 4, Rosemary is assigned by Campbell to be Snake's go-to psychological counselor and can be called for advice at any time by codec. What Rose doesn't know is that someone seems to have upgraded her bra with player-controlled.
Seriously, what is up with her shirt? Are there buttons missing?
The individual levels in VR Missions are mostly benign - sneak through here, defeat these Godzilla-sized soldiers, what have you - but eventually you can unlock a Photography mode, which lets you voyeuristically take pictures of 3D models of Snake's assistant, Mei Ling. Complete more missions and you can inch ever closer in the virtual space, so you can take better photos. Yay?
Oh, MGS2: when you go off the rails, you sail right off a cliff in a blaze of glory. Near the end of the game, Raiden ends up captured and strapped to a torture device, with all of his possessions removed - including his sneaking suit. Raiden is freed from his confines, but without clothes, Raiden must cover his shame with his hands. His typically sweet cartwheel jump is now the stuff of nightmares, his legs splayed out wide as he flings himself through the air.
You can't be too careful in the world of Metal Gear Solid 3. Spies, double-agents, and double-double-agents lurk around every corner. In this world of constant deceit and deception, how are you supposed to know who to trust? Colonel Volgin knows the answer: crotch check. If you think someone might be a spy - or is perhaps impersonating your silver-haired boy toy - give their . Any impersonator isn't going to know what the hell to do in such a situation, as poor Naked Snake discovered leading up to MGS3's famous torture scene.
Snake's Octo-camo in MGS4 is incredibly versatile, allowing him to blend into his surroundings and hide in plain sight. This includes a set of ruined statues early on in chapter one. Simply climb up on the pedestal, hold the triangle button, and Snake will blend into his surroundings by pretending to be one of the statues - tastefully covering the exposed genitalia of the carving next to him. Do this a couple times, though, and that penis will break right off. Art doesn't last forever, especially art found inside a warzone.
POOP JOKES! Oh boy, who here doesn't like a good poop joke? Certainly not Kojima, which is why we have Johnny Sasaki, aka "Akiba" which is Japanese for "Dude what poops in barrels." Seeing this poor man make a mess in his pants time and time again invokes the old adage: first time is funny, second time is silly, third time is how the hell do I skip this cutscene? And just like Quiet's convenient excuse for her wardrobe, Johnny also has a totally-legitimate-reason-guys for his spontaneous fecal discharge that clearly couldn't have been handled any other way.
In the caves of the original Metal Gear Solid, equipping the box at the right time can lead to a wolf… relieving itself on Snake. Now, thanks to Snake’s new scent, the wolves treat him as one of their own. MGS2 ups the urination ante by forcing Raiden to sneak past a soldier who's micturating over the railing directly above you. As Campbell puts it, "sneaking missions are called wetworks for a reason, after all."
One of the primary players in Peace Walker's complex plot is Paz Ortega Andrade, a 16-year-old high school student who gets mixed up in the international espionage that seems to follow Snake wherever he goes. During the cutscene when you first meet Paz, you're given control of the camera and unexplained x-ray vision, letting you zoom in to glimpse this underage girl's undergarments for absolutely no reason. Later on, during the Extra Ops 67 mission (codenamed "Date with Paz"), you can hide under the cardboard 'Love Box'; Paz will eventually ask to join you under there and do God knows what while the box rocks back and forth. Alternatively, you can use CQC to cop a feel while Paz is admiring the ocean, at which point she'll rightfully slap you to the ground. Jesus Christ, Kojima. You literally just made your main character a pedophile.
As of right now, the list of Xbox 360 games that people want to be playable via the Xbox One's backwards compatibility boils down to a popularity contest. 'Letting the fans decide' is one of the easiest ways to make a gigantic corporation like Microsoft feel more personable, and thousands of gamers have jumped at the chance to vote on the .
But then there are the games sitting at the bottom of the colossal totem pole that is the Xbox 360's library, all of which are sitting at 115 or fewer votes at the time of this writing. According to the vote tallies, these are essentially the least-wanted games ever made for the Xbox 360 - or perhaps just the least-known. In fact, there is absolutely no way you've heard of all of the following games. And in some cases, that's a damn shame, because a few of these oddities aren't half bad, or are even legitimately great. The rest, well... at least 100 or so people in the world would be happy to see them make a backwards-compatible return.
Considering Yo-Ho Kablammo was universally panned and has what is perhaps the in existence, you have to wonder if its few votes didn't all come from just one person. The game itself looks like a 99-cent shovelware mobile game that took a wrong turn on its way to the iTunes storefront and ended up on Xbox. There it plagued unsuspecting consumers - who were seduced by the monkey on the cover and its axe-murderer-esque eyes - with a banal, ship-to-ship combat game that makes you want to throw yourself overboard.
When the best part about your football game is the halftime marching band minigame, you have a serious problem. Such is the fate of Black College Football Xperience: The Doug Williams Edition for Xbox 360. This is less of a football game and more of a train wreck happening in slow motion. As our own Richard Grisham noted in his review, "There are missteps galore, including magically teleporting footballs, brain-dead blockers and tacklers, even obvious mathematical errors in the stats. Sadly, BCFX simply isn’t anywhere near ready for the big time."
If you've never seen professional badminton, it's pretty amazing. It's sort of like watching professional ping pong, except the 'ball' - or rather, shuttlecock - is constantly 10-feet up in the air. Then you have two people down on the ground swinging their rackets around as though a swarm of angry bees just broke into the arena. It's hard to see how you could improve upon this already amazing sport, but Blazing Birds gives it the old college try by replacing the players with what appear to be robot eagle heads mounted on unicycles. This is a great idea to be sure, but ultimately wasn't enough to mask another mediocre sports game.
Before we dive into the rules of Wits Wagers, take a look at for the game. Why did Hidden Path make the characters look absolutely horrifying? Just look at those all-too-realistic heads on top of those cartoon bodies. And that one with the clown face, it's the stuff of nightmares. Wits Wagers is a trivia game in which every question can be answered with a number - for example, "How many feet wide is an NFL football field?" Players take an educated guess, and the one who's closest to the actual answer without going over <(i>Price is Right style) is awarded points. If you don't know the answer, you can bet on someone else's answer with the hopes of sharing in their windfall. Just make sure you don't bet on the clown.
Petanque is an extremely French-sounding name for an extremely French-sounding sport where you throw balls at other balls from really far away. To my uncultured, American sensibilities, it reminds me of horseshoes, except you want your horseshoe to land as close to the stake as possible without touching it. So it's a really passive-aggressive form of horseshoes. This may sound simple enough, but Obut Petanque 2 fills the screen with so many gauges, meters, and other graphs, you'd think you were flying a fighter jet instead of throwing metal balls at the ground.
If you've seen the 1997 horror flick Cube, then you already know how lethal these shapes can be. Death by Cube is filled with killer cubes that shuffle around on four legs and explode into giant puddles of blood when you shoot them - because video games. You control a tiny, laser-shooting android who can collect various power-ups to change between spread shot, homing shot, and other weapon types. But the most exciting weapon has to be the reflector shield, which soaks up enemy fire and returns it in a giant, glorious shotgun blast of bullets. Think Robotron: 2084, but the robots bleed all over the place.
Holy Hell, based on that title alone how was this NOT the most amazing game on the Xbox 360? Let's break this down: 'CellFactor' could mean anything, but 'Psychokinetic Wars' screams giant battlefields with wacky powers. And that's what this Unreal Tournament-inspired FPS was going for, complete with a female robot named Bishop who can throw objects with her mind. Oddly enough, this is the third game in the CellFactor series, the first two being glorified tech demos designed to showcase Ageia's physics processors.
Planets Under Attack brings all of the joys of planet-on-planet violence without the hours-long complexity of, say, Planetary Annihilation. In this real-time strategy game, you control a cluster of planets and construct swarms of ships to go forth and colonize other planets in your glorious name. Of course, the other players are trying to do the same thing, which means occasionally building giant, world-cracking death rays on your planets to keep others at bay. Giant lasers aside, each of the game's three races - humans, robots, and aliens - has its own unique abilities to fit your playstyle. And while this game almost certainly won't find a new home on Xbox One, you can check it out on Steam.
Everyone who voted for this game is a hero, because 2009's Tornado Outbreak was shuttled into obscurity as soon as it left the assembly line. You control Zephyr, a wind elemental who takes the form of a teeny, tiny baby tornado (seriously, it's like the size of a chicken). Growing in size means sucking up rocks, feathers, fences, trees, houses, and everything else in sight until you're a rampaging twister leveling entire city blocks. There's also a fully voiced and surprisingly fleshed out backstory establishing Zephyr, his wind warriors, and how he's actually on a quest to save the Earth (by knocking your house over).
This game's Wikipedia entry matter-of-factly states "Marlow Briggs, a smokejumper who wields ancient Mayan powers, must prevent an industrialist from becoming a primeval Mesoamerican deity and destroying the world." Whow! Hold on there, cowboy, that's a lot to unpack. Smokejumper? Mayan powers? Ancient Mesoamerican deity? Solid Snake on his best day couldn't puzzle this one out. Thankfully, Marlow Briggs is terested in being a fun, B-movie action game than, you know, making sense. The guy runs around wailing on people with a double-bladed scythe and sweet tribal tattoos. Who needs logic?
Blood Drive takes the opening to Dead Rising 2, switches out motorcycles for cars, and makes a surprisingly well-realized vehicular combat game out of it. Had this game been released circa 1999 for, say, the original PlayStation - featuring the hit single Dragula - developer Sidhe would've been king of the world (instead of moving on to Rugby League 3 on Wii). It mixes car-on-car violence with an endless horde of zombies shuffling around the arena, which supplies the blood part of the Blood Drive equation. Think Mad Max in the post-zombie apocalypse.
When you sit down to make a first-person shooter involving the President, the secret service, and terrorists, that's a responsibility. From Metal Gear Solid 2 to Metal Wolf Chaos, video games have a time-honored tradition of building fun and/or crazy experiences around the commander-in-chief. But Secret Service doesn't come close. Despite playing a secret service agent for the President - which, in video games, could potentially be the most exciting job ever - the most secret service-y thing you do is shoot people while wearing a suit. And that's not even fun, because this game plays like a bad Call of Duty knockoff.
If you never had the pleasure of owning one, Madballs are among the quintessential 'gross-out toys' that were all the rage in the '90s: spherical, freaky foam faces that really don't do much besides sit there and look weird. In a moment of bizarre serendipity, someone on the Madballs marketing team saw a perfect opportunity to incorporate the toyline into a sequel to Babo Violent 2, a freeware twin-stick shooter populated by globes with guns. Shockingly, Madballs: Babo Invasion isn't half bad for a budget arcade shoot-'em-up, especially in four-player co-op. And the XBLA version lets you do something that the Steam port never could: let you roll around as the disembodied, weapon-wielding head of your Xbox 360 Avatar.
In some parallel universe, .
When it comes to peculiar first-person shooters with outlandish character designs and off-the-wall aesthetics, Xotic is right up there with Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath and Zeno Clash. Your primary weapon resembles a gigantic fly's head, and each level evokes the feeling that you've just dropped acid at a black-light bowling alley. Rather than shooting up everything that moves, your primary objective is to score points by popping colored orbs with your icky bug-gun. You do eventually get to take potshots at some incredibly freakish enemies, including deranged cyborgs and metallic-skinned mutants. There's a lot more style here than substance, but Xotic's trippy take on the FPS archetype is certainly unique.
Virtual billiards is nothing new, and most people can appreciate the simple satisfaction of lining up a geometrical shot to sink a ball in a pocket. But Inferno Pool needed something to really set it apart - so it tossed out the smooth felt of a pool table for the grit and grime of industrial metal. For reasons unknown, you've decided to enjoy a game of eight-ball in the break room of the local foundry, which is just as dingy and rusted-over as you might imagine. The attempt at making Inferno Pool feel like regular billiards' older, edgier, street-smart cousin is rounded out by some generic techno and a ridiculous announcer with gravelly, Unreal Tournament-style callouts like "BANK SHOT!" or simply "INFERNO!" to pump you up for all the intense pool action.
If you're a fan of Japanese arcade obscurities - and really, who isn't - then you might've heard of Magical Beat, a competitive puzzle game that's like Tetris, Lumines, and Beatmania combined in one. By dropping colored blocks in time to the music, you can rain down trash blocks on your opponent while enjoying some incredibly dope beats. All that is to say: Magical Beat is amazing, and you should absolutely pick up the PS Vita port. Alternatively, you could seek out 0D Beat Drop, which is pretty much the exact same game with Avatars instead of pixelated caricatures. There's a reason these games are so similar: they're both made by Arc System Works, who you probably know as the maker of Guilty Gear and BlazBlue. In either case, you're going to have a good time - I guarantee it.
While we're on the ever-popular topic of Japanese rhythm games (see: previous slide), here's Beat'n Groovy, the Westernized version of Pop'n Music. If you've never had the pleasure of plunking some change into a colorful, cartoony Pop'n Music arcade cabinet, it's essentially the kid-friendly version of the rhythmic button-tapping from Konami's own Beatmania series. Problem is, those games are only available in Japan, and Beat'n Groovy is a poor stand-in for the genuine article. At a glance, the cutesy visuals and screen layout look the same, but upon closer inspection, you'll find all the ugliness of a Western artist trying to imitate the anime style and coming up short, landing somewhere in Bratz territory. Also, playing with a standard 360 pad just can't replicate the magic of Pop'n Music's nine-button, Fisher-Price-looking controller.
To round out this trifecta of forgotten Xbox 360 rhythm games, we've got Go! Go! Break Steady. This oddity adapts the smooth, physically demanding moves of breakdancing into a juxtaposition of simple rhythm gaming in the vein of Gitaroo Man (where inputs randomly fly in from off-screen towards a central node) and the colored-ball-blasting of Zuma. It's a strange mix, to be sure, but the gameplay's perfectly satisfactory, and it's hard not to appreciate the hand-drawn animations and funky art style. Plus, you can play as a breakdancing grandma wearing Bruce Lee's iconic yellow tracksuit.
But wait... HERE COMES A NEW CHALLENGER! It wouldn't be a proper XBLA music-game-hybrid fracas without this absolutely absurd rhythm-fighter. As you might've guessed from the title, all the action revolves around Snoop Dogg, legendary West Coast rapper and master of all things marijuana-related. It's likely that Snoop wasn't the only one who was high out of his mind when this game idea got greenlit, seeing as its blend of one-on-one brawls and a confusing knock-off of Elite Beat Agents is laughably abysmal. Oh, and at the time this game was released, its star was actually going by Snoop Lion, which kind of - that is, completely - diminishes the point of having 'Dogg' in the title.
Game developer James 'DJames' Goddard (not to be confused with the Olympic swimmer of the same name) has some legendary projects under his belt. The man's intimately familiar with fighting games, given how he currently works on the new Killer Instinct, had a hand in developing combat for a bunch of classic Capcom beat-'em-ups and modern Blizzard games, and even created Jamaican kickboxer Dee Jay while working as co-lead designer on Street Fighter 2: Hyper Fighting. But he's also got an Asteroids-style space shooter on his resume, courtesy of Shred Nebula. This is an incredibly colorful, hectic, 360-degree shmup that was sadly ignored, given that it was released just after Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2. If you're enjoying the recent indie standout Galak-Z, Shred Nebula might be right up your asteroid-blasting alley.
Not to be confused with the excellent bloodsucker RPG Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines, this Masquerade may or may not actually exist. The Xbox Marketplace claims that this cel-shaded beat-'em-up was released on June 30th, 2015, yet there's next to zero information and not a millisecond of footage of the game to be found across the great plains of the Internet. From the look of what few screenshots are out there, you play as either a blue jester dude or a thief dudette (seemingly ripping off the equally obscure Pandemonium! on PS1), beating back the burly, make-up-caked legions of the evil Clown Army. This game has vaporware written all over it, yet Microsoft's site shows that 103 people have voted to give it life on Xbox One. And frankly, I find that hard to believe.
Here's another example of 'fans' 'voting' for a game they never even got to play. If you search for "sledge hammer xbox" on YouTube, you're going to find way, way too many videos of smarmy, privileged white kids smashing video game consoles. But you might also stumble across for this eccentric combat-racing game, which is chock-full of big rigs outfitted with missile launchers and rocket thrusters. Despite your instincts telling you otherwise, there's an inherent, kitschy charm to Sledge Hammer's grimy, low-budget visuals, goofy arsenal of arcade weaponry, grunge-tastic soundtrack, and the animated portrait of your burly driver in the upper left at all times. Alas, it was never released, and you can't exactly resurrect something on Xbox One when it never truly lived in the first place.
"Point-and-click detective adventure" is probably one of the last things you might think of when mulling over a name like Red Johnson's Chronicles. Unfortunate title aside, this is an intriguing (albeit mediocre) puzzle game starring Red, a ginger, trenchcoat-wearing private eye, in a modern noir take on Professor Layton. The game itself is rather clunky, but it's got a unique art style, what with the grandiose scale of the generic Metropolis city and frequent switches to a black-and-white aesthetic. If nothing else, it's one of the few games in existence to have a QTE for a high-five-to-fist-bump transition, which surely must count for something.
I know we've had some fun perusing these long-forgotten 360 games, but listen... . There is, in the world right now, a kart-racing console game that lets you race as everyone's favorite pop culture icon: Shrek. And if, for some unfathomable reason, you'd want to be anyone but Shrek, you've got plenty of DreamWorks-themed options, including the lively animals of Madagascar, the Seth Rogen-voiced blue blob B.O.B. from Monsters vs. Aliens, and the adorable Toothless from How to Train Your Dragon (who looks ridiculous when jammed into the driver's seat of a go-kart). The drab course layouts and generic power-ups can't hold a candle to anything in Mario Kart, mind you... but then again, Shrek.
I'd say video game movies get a bad rap for being subpar cinema, but the honest truth is that video game movies are pretty goddamn awful most of the time. That reputation makes it hard to greet the .
But, true as that may be, it doesn't do much good to wallow in misery. We can spend our time lamenting the most rotten of the game movie crop, or we can turn away from the worst and focus on game-based films that are worth signing into Netflix over. Yes, I choose to be optimistic and think about the best video game feature films, even the ones that only made it to DVD. They aren't perfect, and they may make proper film buffs scoff, but each has a special something that makes microwaving another bag of popcorn worthwhile.
Comprised of a little-known cast, DOA: Dead or Alive wasn’t exactly set up for success. It was released straight-to-DVD in the United States, though it deserved a full theatrical release over some other video game adaptations (we’re looking at you, Dungeon Siege movie starring Jason Statham). The story's what you'd expect from a fighting game franchise: combatants from around the world are invited to participate in a secret martial arts tournament where things are not what they seem.
It's a weak premise to be sure, but DOA neither needs nor wants to be deep and affecting cinema. It's a pure popcorn flick from start to finish, with cheesy dialogue and exaggerated fight scenes that make for some stellar so-bad-it's-good comedy. Plus, the fact that allies can instantly become enemies if their names are drawn out of a figurative hat of death pumps some juice into an otherwise stale formula, and actually gives an explanation for why everyone in the DOA universe is constantly kicking the crap out of one another.
Max Payne is a movie that dreams of being Sin City when it grows up, from the neo-noir setting to its oppressive, shadowy visuals. You could say that much of that style comes from the Max Payne video games, but Max Payne the movie uses its roots as a segue rather than a foundation, turning it into a straight-up private-eye thriller.
Of course, losing the more game-centric aspects of Payne's vendetta means the film misses out on bullet-time physics and comic-inspired visuals, which is a big part of what made Max's exploits so good in the first place. The film's plot feels almost entirely removed from all by the basic parts of the Payne mythology, so there isn't much for fans here. Still, it latches onto the grittiness of Payne first and foremost, making it perfect if you're looking for a mystery marinating in dark action. But if that's your jam, make sure to grab a copy of the Unrated edition, as things were toned down for theatrical release - the exact opposite of what Max Payne should be.
If you’re dying for a movie that juxtaposes excellent fight choreography and flashy CG with Ben Kingsley sighing internally for 116 minutes, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time better be in your shopping cart of choice. A loose retelling of the first game, The Sands of Time is filled with great action sequences and expert use of special effects for the sands’ time-warping properties, both of which make up for its so-so storytelling.
The elephant in the room is that none of the actors for the main characters are Persian, and the whitewashed cast is definitely a distraction. Jake Gyllenhaal and Gemma Arterton's performances are decent enough though, with Gyllenhaal in particular channeling the Prince's struggles from Warrior Within and The Two Thrones into a faithful portrayal. Don't go in expecting Shakespeare, but if you're craving impressive fight scenes and sand-related magic, this won't be a waste of time.
The first in a series of films based on Capcom's seminal zombie franchise, Resident Evil is a fun horror flick that knows where to focus its energy. It doesn’t follow the story of the games, which can be impenetrable for non-fans, and would've been diminished if it was simplified for mainstream audiences anyway. Instead, RE follows new protagonist Alice (played by the lovely Milla Jovovich) and a group of Umbrella Corporation soldiers as they work to contain the outbreak of the T-Virus.
Alice’s main opposition isn’t the virus itself, but rather the AI with a doomsday protocol, using its automated systems to exterminate the virus by killing everyone inside. This tech makes for one of the best gore scenes in horror history, as characters are sliced and diced by malevolent machinery in a shower of gore. The plot gets squashed to make room for all that violence and action, and tends to drag when it does get attention, but if gratuitous gore and fantastic gunplay are all you care about, Alice is a worthwhile stand-in for RE's iconic, zombie-slaughtering protagonists.
It's Suicide Squad with an Arkham twist, dressed up like Batman: The Animated Series - and all of those things turn out just as good as they sound. Taking place two years before Arkham Asylum, Assault on Arkham focuses of the dysfunctional adventures of the Rogue Gallery's pinch hitters as they're forced to break into Arkham on the orders of Amanda Walker. Like I said, it's with a few different faces.
Even if you haven't played the games (or scored every Riddler trophy), Assault on Arkham can stand on its own, with the sort of impressive animation and framing that's characterized most of DC's animated features in recent years. That said, it's heavy on fan service and light on explanation, so if you walk into this one with no Batman knowledge you're going to come out very confused. But for a film aimed squarely at building another piece of the Batman mythos into the Arkham series, Assault on Arkham it gets the job done by any means necessary (which includes exploding heads).
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider was right to put Lara's name first, because that's what the movie's really about: the spelunking heroine of video game legend. Angelina Jolie is the perfect actress to fill Lara's combat boots, and her action hero chops have made her virtually inseparable from old-school Lara in the minds of many moviegoers. Tomb Raider is an action-packed popcorn flick through and through, with excellent choreography and magnificently ridiculous fight sequences; Jolie's performance is the hot, buttery magic on top.
That doesn't translate to Tomb Raider being a good movie - the story is bare-bones at best, and when the movie does attempt to foster an emotional core through Lara's feelings about her dead father, it's painful in all the wrong ways. But don't worry about that - Lara just sliced a robot open with its own blade arms and popped her party mix into its disc drive, and you don't want to miss another second.
Before taking the helm on the Resident Evil movies, Paul W.S. Anderson directed Mortal Kombat, one of the first video game movies that managed to appeal to a mainstream audience while faithfully adhering to its source material. The film follows the saga started by the evil Shang Tsung and his plot to destroy Earthrealm (i.e. Earth); the exaggerated fight moves of Johnny Cage, Sonya Blade, and Liu Kang are the only thing that can stop him. It's incredibly cheesy in proper early '90s fashion (with all the bad hair and leather to boot), but commits to the premise so sincerely that it's hard not to love.
The quirky nature of the film fits right in with the characters themselves, who are constantly cracking jokes and switching between increasingly ridiculous outfits. Its fight scenes are genuinely exciting, made even better by regular overacting, and both capture the spirit of Mortal Kombat even without the gut-churning Fatalities. While Hollywood tried to bottle lightning again in Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, it lacked the goofy soul it needed to succeed. In a battle between the two, the original Mortal Kombat scores a flawless victory.
Capturing the scale of Bayonetta's battles is hard to do on film, and Bayonetta: Bloody Fate never really gets there. Even though it's replete with explosive battles and outrageously campy action, the anime interpretation it feels toned down in comparison to the game, with a lot of stylized close-ups and music that has nowhere near the peppiness of . But as different as Bloody Fate might feel from its source material, it's still good enough to stand on its own, and that's not half bad for a video game film.
Through gorgeous animation that uses its bold color scheme as a storytelling tool, Bloody Fate recounts a simplified version of Bayonetta's tale, which is easier to make sense of when it's actually explained. Unlike other game adaptations that demand a thorough understanding of the original game from the start, Bloody Fate is a workable stand-in for the original game. You won't have to know anything about the seductive witch ahead of time to get the jist of what's happening, letting you enjoy the gleeful carnage on its own, beautifully rendered merits. Now if only they'd they'd give Bayonetta 2 the same treatment (no Wii U necessary).
Advent Children is the ultimate in fan service, and it's not sorry. The impatiently awaited sequel to Final Fantasy 7, Advent Children comes bearing a plot that you need , some diagrams, and a ton of red string to properly understand. Yet its stellar cinematography makes much of its narrative incoherence forgivable, and once you actually sort out what's happening, it's the perfect story for those in need of an FF7 fix.
Here are the broad strokes: two years after the end of FF7, three Sephiroth clones show up and start all sorts of trouble, so the gang has to get back together to stop them (and help Cloud get over his re-emerging survivor's guilt over Aerith's death). That's about all the explanation the movie offers up, which leads to a lot of head-scratching moments when the characters' motivations don't stretch farther than the next fight scene. But man are those fight scenes amazing: varied and gorgeous enough to stay interesting despite their frequency, with bits of character development in between that'll leave any FF7's fan's heart a-pattering. Dress it up with full CG that still look fantastic ten years later, and you've got a solid gift for the fans that doesn't need to make sense to be enjoyable.
Striking a balance between loyalty to the source material, mass appeal, and good filmmaking is biggest hurdle for any video game movie, and very few manage to keep one aspect from overwhelming the others. Silent Hill isn't perfect in that regard (it’s no stranger to cheap horror gimmicks and clichés, for instance), but it's gotten closer than any other game movie to date. It takes what made Silent Hill so terrifying in the first place and captures it on film, feeding off that same fear that made the game successful so many years before.
Reimagining the story of Silent Hill with a female lead named Rose, the Silent Hill movie pulls from the game's otherworldly horror for its visuals and iconography, incorporating series touchstones like the cultish Order, psychic child Alyssa Gillespie, and nightmarish monsters at every turn (including Pyramid Head in one of the movie's best scenes). Most importantly, it doesn't shy away from the grotesque imagery that makes Silent Hill so affecting, so you never get the sense that it's been sanitized for Hollywood. It even takes things a bit too far at the end, so get ready to cover your eyes.
It's here, everyone. After five years of development and a lot of behind-the-scenes drama, you can finally go to your local store (or digital download service) of choice and acquire a copy . But here's the thing: it's unlike any Metal Gear you've ever played before, with a massive scope including some colossal open environments to explore and a whole mercenary operation to grow and manage. It's a lot to take in, especially if you've never played Peace Walker, Phantom Pain's closest inspiration.
Don't be scared, though. The Phantom Pain is well-paced, unravelling its various systems slowly over time and gradually acclimating you to this positively gigantic beast of a game. But if you find yourself completely lost and you're looking for a little guidance, here are a few handy tips that should help you get your bearings relatively painlessly. It's a big world out there, Boss. It's time to rise up and take your revenge.
Right after the bizarre, mind-melting prologue mission, you're dropped into Afghanistan to seek out your old partner, Kazuhira Miller. Revolver Ocelot goes over a few basics with you before setting you off into the open world, including how to use your Int-Scope - which is just a fancy word for binoculars. Your Int-Scope isn't just a good way to look at distant places; by scouting out enemy and weapon emplacements, you'll tag them, marking them on your heads-up display for the duration of the mission. Tagging is a godlike boon, allowing you to keep track of troop movements even after you die or restart from the latest checkpoint. Use your Int-Scope constantly.
During your first mission, you'll probably get a twinge of wanderlust, as the wide-open deserts of Afghanistan beckon you to explore. But don't worry about that too much at first, because you're missing several vital skills and pieces of equipment to make the most of your excursions into the field. Just focus on your initial mission: find Kaz, and extract him via chopper. Once the mission is over, you'll be introduced to Mother Base, a massive, off-shore military facility, granting you the ability to research new gear and use Fulton balloons to conscript soldiers. That's when The Phantom Pain finally begins to open up, and exploration becomes a little easier.
In previous Metal Gear games, kills were greatly frowned upon, as even a single execution could completely ruin your mission ranking. The Phantom Pain bucks that trend: kills don't affect your final score nearly as much, giving you a bit more freedom in how you approach the game's myriad missions. Speed and stealth are the two things that matter most to attaining the elusive S-rank, so as long as you're quick and don't get spotted, you can usually leave a pile of bodies in your wake and still get a great mission score.
So here's the thing: Big Boss kind of forgot how to speak Russian, thanks to the shrapnel embedded in his skull, and Revolver Ocelot isn't a great interpreter. This is a problem if you want to interrogate any of the soldiers you find milling around Afghanistan, as you won't be able to understand a lick of what they're saying. When you finish your first Main Op (after completing the Mother Base tutorial), you'll unlock the Side Op list which includes a crucial (yet optional) mission: find and Fulton (aka attach a balloon to their torso) a Russian interpreter. Do this immediately; this not only lets you comprehend what they're saying over the radio, but it also allows you to gather intel on hidden items and highly skilled soldiers when you hold them up.
Thanks to the events of Ground Zeroes, Big Boss' military empire has fallen apart, meaning you'll need to help him rebuild his army one person at a time. Now's not the time to be picky; knock out any soldier you can find with a tranquilizer dart or CQC, attach a balloon to their belt with the Fulton, and send 'em back home. Eventually you can upgrade your Int-Scope to analyze soldiers and see their rankings, allowing you to be a bit more choosy with who you Fulton, but don't worry too much about that until Mother Base nears capacity. Oh, and be careful not to Fulton anyone when a patrol's nearby, as enemy soldiers can and will investigate why their friends are being hoisted into the air by a giant balloon.
While you can Fulton smaller animals and people without much issue, you won't be able to snag the many artillery cannons and vehicles you find until you upgrade your balloon a few times. Don't worry about this too much at the start, because it'll take you a several hours before you get to that point. Just keep a mental note of where you find them for later.
There's a cute wittle puppy running around Afghanistan, and once you find him, you can strap a Fulton balloon on him and send him back to base. This pup is DD, and once he grows up, he'll become one of your buddies on the field, helpfully marking enemy locations on your HUD. But he's not always in the same spot for everyone; I found him on a hill as I headed toward base #24 on the map, while someone else I talked to said they found him in a completely different spot. Just keep your ears perked up for high-pitched barks while you explore, and you'll find this friendly canine eventually.
There are a couple ways to incapacitate enemies. You can shoot them in the head (either with a tranquilizer dart or a bullet if you're looking for a more, ahem, permanent solution), you can get up close and CQC them into submission, or you can sneak behind them and hold them up by aiming at them with your weapon of choice. By holding down L1/left bumper, you can extract info from your hostage, make him call his friends over, or force him to lie down on the ground. That last option is a doozy: once they're down on the ground, they won't get up at all unless they're spotted by another soldier or you raise the alert status by getting caught. It's a really good way to keep soldiers out of your hair without wasting any ammo.
Ocelot tells you to use your horse constantly during your time in Afghanistan, but your stallion is loud as hell and can be a bit unwieldy on uneven terrain. Make sure you dismount and leave your horse behind around 150m or so away from your objective, so you can make the rest of the trek on foot. It's slower, but you'll be much more quiet and more maneuverable without him.
Yes, you can tranq and Fulton the animals you see, building up your own personal zoo back at Mother Base. And yes, that even includes bears. No, your starter tranquilizer is probably not strong enough to take one down without a few upgrades behind it. Besides, you can't Fulton it without a more powerful balloon anyway, so it's best to just run if you see a massive grizzly barrelling toward you.
As you acquire soldiers, complete missions, and gather resources and GMP (the game's currency), you'll continue to unlock additional gear and equipment upgrades. If you bring up your iDroid, you can pick and choose what you want to research no matter where you are. At the start, if you see it, and you have the funds to build it, go ahead and build it. Things like smoke grenades, horse armor, and Int-Scope upgrades are vital as you build the foundations for your stealth-based empire.
Everything costs resources, from bringing gear into the field with you and abducting soldiers with your Fulton balloon, to requesting supply drops or even summoning your chopper to exfiltrate you from the field. If you don't have the resources, you can't do any of these very important things, so don't go overboard researching stuff you don't exactly need at the moment. Otherwise, you'll find yourself out of ammo and without the GMP to safely get yourself resupplied.
When you start The Phantom Pain, you can't carry a whole lot of ammo, and your suppressors are incredibly weak, breaking after just a few shots. If you're not too great at aiming and shooting yet, this becomes a problem - especially since the tranquilizer doesn't come with a ton of darts. Luckily, you can hop into your iDroid anywhere on the field and summon a supply drop wherever you are. It costs a little GMP, but it's a great way to top off your supplies without putting yourself in danger. Make sure you get to the box before the enemy does, though, or your drop will be wasted.
You'll likely notice that The Phantom Pain's story feels somewhat sparse in comparison to other Metal Gear games. Sure, the intro's exciting, but once you get through a couple missions, you'll find the focus swings heavily onto its gameplay. If you're finding yourself missing out on all those codec conversations and long-winded monologues, don't worry: just listen to your cassettes. After completing each Main Op, you'll be rewarded with a ton of these recordings, which do everything from fleshing out the political backdrop, to revealing new details about old comrades. You can listen to them while hanging out in your chopper or taking on missions, so be sure to find some time to listen to them all.
You may be laser-focused on completing mission objectives, but don't forget that the various outposts and bases you explore are filled with tons of stuff to grab. Radios play 1980s hits that you can steal and listen to on your Walkman, posters adorn the walls of many buildings around Afghanistan, and rooms are filled with materials you can use to build additional gear and even new platforms for your Mother Base. If you're lucky, you'll stumble across POWs to rescue, or even weapon blueprints to give you an edge in battle. Don't just gun it straight to your objective and bail; take some time to look around a bit, and you'll find a ton of goodies, ripe for the taking.
After you've got a few missions under your belt, and a few upgrades completed, you'll unlock the ability to build new development platforms. These will grant you access to tons of additional features, and upgrading the ones you've already built allows you to assign more soldiers to each station. The first one you'll want is RD, so you can start building bigger and better weapons and items, though you'll also want to build a Base Development platform so your crew can find and process materials while you play. You likely won't have enough materials for any of these when you first unlock the ability to construct them, so keep an eye out while you're sneaking around Afghanistan for additional supplies to bolster your Mother Base ASAP.
Unlike other Metal Gear games, time progresses in a realistic fashion in The Phantom Pain, and guard placement will change as day shifts to night (and vice versa). There are benefits to both - it's easier to see during the day, but you might have an easier time sneaking around at night. You can choose what time you'd like to drop into the field from your helicopter, but if you're already mucking about, there's an easy way to change the time of day: simply puff on your Phantom Cigar. It uses the wormwood plants you'll pick up in the field, and by taking a drag on your e-cigar, you'll cause time to move forward quite rapidly. When you're done, simply unequip it by tapping left on the D-pad. Voila, time travel.
As you infiltrate the encampments strewn about Afghanistan, you'll likely notice some larger pieces of equipment with blinking lights on them. The enemy uses radios to report in with one another, communication satellites to send messages to nearby bases, and power generators to run the lights. These can either be turned off or blown up, and will disrupt the enemy temporarily. Sometimes, you'll also find a giant anti-air radar just hanging out. Destroying it will permanently take it out of commission, and give your helicopter a new landing space nearby. Be mindful of your surroundings, and take advantage of whatever opportunity you get to cripple your foes.
The Phantom Pain doesn't tell you this until you've found your first leaflet, but some of the outposts you come across will have a yellow, triangle-shaped sign with a delivery manifest attached to it. Grab that, and you'll be able to use it as a fast travel point. Simply hop in a box, wait in the designated area, and you'll be whisked away to any other spot on the map you've unlocked. That way, you won't have to hoof it across the hot desert for miles, or summon your chopper if you want a faster way to get around.
Metal Gear Solid 5 is hard. The enemy AI is brutal, and enemies will work together to counter your strategies at every turn. If you get spotted, you can only take a few hits before you're down for the count. So don't be afraid to run away, wait for the enemy's alert status to drop, send for some more supplies, and get your head back in the game before you make another attempt. Or, if you'd simply like a do-over, hit "Restore Previous Checkpoint" in your Options menu.
Just when you thought 2015 had run its course in terms of rereleases, August rolls around with a bevy of worthwhile remasters. Chief among them are technically comes out in September, so... yeah. It's got next month's awards pretty much locked up.
At the end of each month, we look back at the standout games that demand your attention above the rest of the year's releases thus far. That way, you know what to prioritize before you're caught up by all the other amazing . So, without further ado, here's what you should be playing right now to tide you over until next month.
Locksley's a futuristic thief following in the fabled footsteps of Robin Hood, taking from the rich and giving to the poor. But he has something that old archer never did: a bitchin', high-tech facemask made of luminescent polygons. , from the studio that brought you Thomas Was Alone, is a neon-drenched take on the stealth action of Metal Gear Solid's VR missions, where you carefully sneak past the watchful eyes of guards, cameras, and turrets from a top-down perspective.
Combat's not really an option for Locksley, so you'll have to carefully plot out your path to avoid detection while snagging the valuable gems scattered around each stage. Across the 100 levels included in the campaign (plus the infinite possibilities of user-made challenges), you'll master the art of tiptoeing around danger, avoiding patrols, and blending in with the environment, all taught with just the right pacing. If you're partial to slipping past vision cones or just sticking it to the man, Volume is sure to provide hours of stealthy satisfaction.
There's a lot to see in . You'll even behold things you wouldn't see under normal circumstances, like people who are long gone from this world recreated with swirls of light and retreading memories of times long past. But more importantly, you'll see things in the empty town of Yaughton that you see in so few video games: a real appreciation for life, even in its final moments.
Rapture snags August's Game of the Month award (or rather, calmly drifts over and gently spirits it away) because of its emotional punch, showing not only a way of life coming to an end, but each individual in their own way. Backed up by an eerily serene world and a hauntingly gorgeous soundtrack, Rapture turns the death of virtual strangers into a heartbreaking affair, as you watch them go (gently or not) into that good night. Try to keep a stiff upper lip through this one, but don't expect to maintain it for long.
An entire realm being reborn is a tough act to follow, but aces the trial that is an MMO's first expansion. By expanding on just about every aspect you can think of - most notably, some gigantic zones and three intriguing Jobs - it feels as substantial and vibrant as the revamped version of the base game. Oh, and you can soar through the sky atop a flying mount, including a tubby Chocobo with tiny, adorable wings which you motivate with a slice of cake on a stick. For some, that fact alone will justify a renewed subscription.
Heavensward sweetens the deal with a wealth of engaging, plot-thickening quests (provided you've reached the end of A Realm Reborn's storyline), and the fresh abilities for each class make the journey to the new level cap a joy. For all you living room adventurers, FF14 continues to be the best console MMO on the market - but whether you're playing on a PC, PS4, or PS3, chit-chatting with Moogles, felling colossal Primals, and dancing some merry jigs in celebration is simply delightful.
is what happens when ‘the beautiful game’ is usurped by clusters of rocket-powered battle cars. It’s not quite as intricate or as Messi as football, but Rocket League is sincere in its sports presentation, right down to the chanting arena crowds and cheesy pop music in the menus. It also doesn’t feel derivative, coming to its own cartoonish crescendo when those somersaulting sports cars butt bumpers over an oversized, blinking ball. It takes a long time to master the bumps, the bounces, the jumps and the jukes, but Rocket League is brilliant right off the bat.
Even while you’re learning the right timing for a forward-flip, or when it’s ok to drive on the stadium ceiling (right now, actually), you’ll pull off some amazing stuff. It’ll be the perfect metallic maneuver: clipping the ball with your front left tire in a graceful somersault, sending it straight into the points pen where it explodes with a satisfying KABLOOSH. Wow. Just… wow. And nobody has to know you did that completely by accident. We’ll just keep that between us.
is an absolute marvel of storytelling, making ingenious use of out-of-order video clips to spin out its mystery. Despite the fact that the game’s unique structure means your path to the end won’t match anyone else’s, Her Story is complete and coherent, though its solution is open to interpretation. It’s a detective game that relies on your natural instinct to push its narrative forward, never nudging you in one direction or the other, letting you explore avenues of investigation as they come to you.
Watching FMV clips on a reproduction of a computer from the '90s certainly doesn’t sound terribly exciting, but you’ll be thinking about Her Story for days after you’ve tracked down that last video. You’ll find yourself rolling little details around in your head, mulling over their implications, deciding that you finally know the “truth,” only to realize that another detail makes your assumptions invalid. But then again, does it? One final bit of advice: go in knowing as little as possible, and don’t try to game the system. Be a true detective.
is another biff-pow display of Rocksteady’s exceptional craftsmanship in bringing a classic comic icon to life. Though combat and stealth are again refined and expanded within Batman’s beautifully rain-slick city, the game’s elegant design is reflected not in its individual components, but in how well they connect with one another, like nodes in a web.
Though the Batmobile’s roaring arrogance has made it a controversial addition to the Arkham series, there’s no question about how integral it is to Batman’s latest patrol. Conceptually, it’s meant to be a way to move quickly in a much wider slice of dour ol’ Gotham, and its visual appearance is, of course, inspired by Batman’s history of driving - as The Riddler calls them - rocket-powered hearses. But Rocksteady dives in fully and makes sure the vehicle connects to combat, stealth and every part of Batman. The overall game’s polish and continuity can be seen in one motion, with the Batmobile hurtling down an alley and launching Batman into full flight, right through a window and into a savage display of ne’er-do-well punishment. It’s one move, one world and one of the coolest moments of 2015. It’ll get you pumped to track down every last super criminal, including whoever masterminded the dreadful PC port.
In a sea of multiplayer shooters obsessed with grit, gore, or teabagging, stands out like a brightly colored squid catapulting through the air - which is actually a thing that happens regularly in this game. Nintendo's take on team deathmatch puts the focus on marking your squad's territory with a rainbow of ink rather than racking up kills, but it still delivers the thrilling blend of twitch shooting and coordinated tactics that define the genre.
Even if those human-squid hybrid Inklings are dripping with kid-friendly personality, this is the kind of joyous multiplayer experience that anyone of any age can enjoy. There's still weapon progression like you'd expect from Call of Duty or Battlefield, but with ink-filled Super Soaker facsimiles and colossal paint rollers. You won't hear anyone raging on voice-chat (because there isn't any), but the GamePad provides clear cues for what to do next. And while the selection of maps currently feels a bit sparse, the moment-to-moment gameplay is fresh, exciting, and - most importantly - good fun.
As open-world experiences go, takes high fantasy to new heights with its staggeringly massive world and rich, engaging storytelling. The grizzled Geralt of Rivia finds himself in landscapes that are as picturesque as they are treacherous, where otherworldly beasts and crazed cultists lurk in the wilderness. There are unforgettable side-quests and delightful supporting characters to distract you at every turn, but you best remember Geralt's primary goal: finding his adopted daughter (and witcher-in-training) Ciri before some supremely evil people get to her first.
That's not to say that you need to rush through the main story, because taking the time to stop and smell the eviscerated corpses is well worth it. The sword-and-spell-casting combat looks stunning on new-gen, and the deep upgrade system gives you plenty of options to slay your way. There are a few hitches - notably some framerate issues that can hopefully be patched out - but the sheer depth of the overall experience makes The Witcher 3 a triumph among action RPGs. Now, if you'll excuse us, we've got to return to a rousing round of the in-game card battler Gwent.
It takes a lot to make a fighting game appeal to the masses. You need slick graphics, excellent presentation, and the kind of depth that'll ensnare those highly skilled players who people want to watch. has got all that, and more. While the Fatality finishers still pack in more gore than you can shake a disembodied limb at, MKX brings a lot of new, refreshing ideas to the table that really make this fighter stand out.
For starters, there's the variations mechanic: every combatant has three unique movesets to choose from before each fight, letting character loyalists mix things up and giving the roster a wildly diverse variety of playstyles. You'll also have a blast playing through the elaborate story mode, which introduces a swath of likeable newcomers while imbuing familiar faces with . The online play still has a few kinks that could be worked out, but fans of the Mortal Kombat series - or fighting games in general - will have one hell of a time with MKX.
Of all the re-releases that have come out this year, .
Xenoblade Chronicles 3D is massive, sporting one of the most interesting locales ever designed. Its sprawling swamps and rolling hills - all set on the backs of two titan-sized dead gods and filled with beasts both great and small - are practically begging to be conquered. While its lush, verdant landscapes lose a little luster and detail on the smaller screen, what you trade in graphical quality you gain back in portability. Being able to take an adventure of this magnificent scope with you wherever you go is a technical marvel. Don't miss it.
somehow manages to be diamond tough and lovingly tender at the same time, balancing out its demanding difficulty with a story that'll practically yank your heartstrings right out of your chest. Playing this open-world platformer puts you in a wondrous state of conflict: the tight controls inspire you to run free throughout the lush world, but the sheer depth of the beyond-gorgeous backdrop art makes you want to stand still and gaze at the environment for hours.
The protagonist Ori is such a cute li'l critter that it's hard to watch the fuzzball die again and again while you struggle to overcome the many deathtraps and spike pits in this treacherous forest. But you'll get over any bruises to your ego, so long as you remember that you're the one responsible for plunking down checkpoints before delving into the trickier bits. The degree of challenge here may rattle anyone without an affinity for hardcore 2D platformers, but Ori's dazzling presentation has a universal, heartfelt appeal.
You’ve probably heard that is really hard. You might've heard it’s really easy. The reality lies somewhere in between. Yes, it sends an army of writhing, fanged, flayed, terrible, tormented beasts your way, beasts only someone bragging about their perceived gamer cred would ever deem a pushover. But it teaches you how to deal with them expertly, their unique attacks and defenses and behaviors, building you up until you look and feel like a great gothic badass. And when you do, you'll have earned it.
In streamlining some of Dark Souls’ complexities (the weight system, magic attacks, a few character skills here and there), Bloodborne gains a rawer sense of immediacy, with vital combat that require relentless attacking sans the comfort blanket of a shield, and unpredictable bosses that force you to develop reflexes alongside your already honed skills of pattern memorization. Oh, and the world. That mystifying, atmospheric, intricately hewn world. Developed for PS4 from the ground-up, the enigmatic Yarnham looks like a beautiful waking nightmare.
If you've yet to succumb to monster hunting fever, you might wonder what all the fuss is about. Plenty of games let you battle vicious beasties and craft fancy gear - but few can develop the kind of player investment and cooperative dedication typical of Monster Hunter. For the uninitiated, is a great way to educate yourself on its gloriously addictive ways. Not just because it's the most beginner-friendly entry in Capcom's hit series - it's also the best Monster Hunter game yet.
Gathering materials and killing harmless herbivores is really just a build-up to something greater: downing fearsome creatures after incredibly demanding battles that require true mastery of your chosen weapon. Series vets are already familiar with MH's captivating gameplay loop of fighting and looting, but the new Charge Blade and Insect Glaive playstyles offer entirely unique ways to test your prowess. If you're looking to start or join a dedicated hunting party - preferably with an expert as your guide - Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate offers the kind of adventure that can hook you for hundreds of hours.
Majora's Mask is... well, it's a bit weird. Instead of following the familiar formula that Zelda games have stuck to for years, Majora's Mask asks that you play the same three days over and over again, trying to make the world a little bit brighter each time. It's certainly strange, and more than a little stressful - but taking the time to learn its rhythm opens up one of the most intriguing and creative Legend of Zelda games ever made. Perhaps that's why, 15 years and a 3DS port later, it feels even better than ever.
Much of that feeling is thanks to the improvements found in this portable version of the N64 classic. The updated Bomber's Notebook makes tracking numerous sidequests a painless process, boss design has been retooled to make things teresting, and additional save points help make portable adventuring much more palatable. Plus, New 3DS owners even have some improved camera control with the C-Stick. Whether this is your first time playing through those ominous 72 hours or your hundredth, is a master quest that stands the test of time.
Grim Fandango is, without a doubt, one of the most unique video games ever made. The quest of an undead travel agent as he attempts to atone for his sins is a love letter to film noir greats like Casablanca and The Maltese Falcon, but it also transcends its influences to be something truly original. And with , you'll finally get to play this lost classic on your PlayStation 4, complete with (some) updated graphics and a fantastic re-recording of the original score.
Grim Fandango is also one of the most uniquely frustrating games ever made, and the Remastered edition only serves to highlight its many game-ruining bugs. Whether it's glitching out a puzzle, clipping you through a wall, or just flat out crashing, Grim Fandango Remastered actually seems buggier now than it did 17 years ago. Make no mistake: Manny's journey is still definitely one worth revisiting - just remember to save your game. Often.
sounds kinda ridiculous at first - it's literally a remastered HD version of a rebuilt SD version of the original Resident Evil. Turns out the joke's on us, though, because that's all we really needed to enjoy the survival horror staple all over again: the HD Remake gives all the main characters and the Spencer Mansion an enticing facelift but keeps the little quirks that make Resident Evil awesome/a total headache/undeniably unique.
You'll still need to manage eight (at most) inventory slots, and you'll still need to keep your distance from downed zombies - or preferably burn them on the spot. The most major change is the new default control scheme, which makes it handle more like a modern fixed-camera game, but you're free to select the old 'tank' controls if you want. With modern conveniences where it needs them and good old weirdness where it doesn't, Resident Evil HD Remake is a near masterpiece… of unlocking.
Here's a video game scenario you've definitely seen before: a malevolent power is about to end the world as you know it, but no rush, because . It comes down to design philosophy: they want you to keep playing as long and as often as possible, so missions can't be too restrictive in how they let you use your time. The sense of urgency that's meant to push you to the end becomes little more than a carefully curated illusion that's easily broken if you decide to make a sandwich and don't hit pause.
Sometimes, anyway. Other times, you come back from your meal prep and all the hostages are dead, or the world has ended, or the love of your virtual life has turned into a horrific monster because you took too long, and the game wants you to feel it. It's a delicate balance to strike, making you feel the weight of a time crunch without pushing you so far that you quit. But games that do it well show that players don't need the virtual world to wait on our every move. Sometimes lighting a fire under your ass is the best thing a game can do.
Easily the most famous game that uses time against you, The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask is also one of the most forgiving. Though you only have three in-game days (with a timer ticking away) before the moon faceplants directly into the planet, you can reverse to the first day as many times as you like. But make no mistake, it's harder than it sounds - failing to finish your current quest means you'll have to start that undertaking over during the next three-day period. Or worse, if you let the moon crash into the planet, expect to lose everything you gained during that cycle.
Kudos to Nintendo, because this is probably the best way to balance a foreboding sense of urgency with dozens of intricate sidequests. Putting a hard deadline on the game as a whole would push you to skip side material, while allowing ample time to complete everything would turn the moon's descent into an empty threat. Meanwhile, the reverse-and-start-over option makes virtually every dungeon-romp nerve-wracking, as you only have one shot to successfully finish if you don't want to start over from the beginning. At the same time, you feel comfortable enough with your schedule that you can set aside time to fight an army of ghosts in return for a bottle of milk. You know, the important things.
As it turns out, Revolution came very close to promoting paradoxical procrastination with its first mission. Specifically, you're told that you only have so long to save a group of hostages before things get ugly, but in the game's original version you could take as long as you wanted and they would never come to harm. Figuring that out immediately deflates any sense of importance the mission had (no need to worry, they're all gonna be fine without you) but also makes it hard to trust the game when it promises dire situations in the future. Chances are those will be falsified too, so why bother?
Thankfully, set a time limit on the hostages' survival, so if you don't get there fast enough, too bad for them. That one choice made Human Revolution significantly more effective at creating suspense and a sense of gravitas, because anyone who tried to call that Mission One bluff learned that this game was not messing around.
At face value, Prince of Persia isn't all that different from the standard hero-saves-princess plot: the Vizier of Persia captures the princess, saying he'll kill her if she refuses to marry him, and you have to rescue her. However, while the likes of Mario and Link have ample time to train before they face off against their nemeses, the Vizier gives the princess an hour to decide, and he isn't kidding around - you get one real-world hour to finish the game before you fail and the princess is left to her horrible fate.
Honestly, this is a far more realistic depiction of how a princess' abduction would go, and gives it the weight and urgency it deserves. Where other games assure you that the princess will be just fine with waiting until you show up to get her, Prince of Persia promises the exact opposite, making you feel your pixelated protagonists' desperation as you struggle to navigate a tricky maze of traps. With no on-screen timer to guide you, it feels like failure is always lurking a step behind, and nothing about the experience would've been nearly as effective if you didn't have the dwindling sands of an hourglass lighting a proverbial a fire under your feet.
Snake Eater might seem like a strange addition here, since the only place where time matters is a single boss fight, and even then it feels like you have to wait for-e-ver for the ravages of time to have any kind of effect. Yet, that use of time has a powerful effect, proving that while Big Boss may be the protagonist, he's not the center of the universe.
Here's the mission (in) brief: you face off against The End, a master sniper who's getting too old for this, and is only hanging on so he can hunt down his 'final prey', aka you. You can fight him in a properly grueling battle, or you can simply save in the middle of the fight and wait a week to play again, by which point The End will have died of old age. While it's easy to assume this feature was included in the name of shock value and some laughs you feel guilty about later, it also puts forward the idea that the world and everything in it isn't waiting on Snake's input - the world moves at its own pace, regardless of what he chooses to do. That doesn't necessarily hold true in other parts of the game (none of Snake Eater's other bosses will get bored and leave if you wait too long to fight them), but that one moment is enough to at least make you think.
Pandora's Tower may not feature of the world's greatest romance - while central to the story, it never gets far past "insert gifts, receive affection" territory - it does remind you that your love Elena has a life of her own outside your adventures and won't just twiddle her thumbs until you get back. Mostly because she's mutating into a horrific demon and needs to eat the flesh of the demons you're slaying in a timely manner if she's going to stay human. And I do mean timely: every mission is on a timer, and if you wait too long before getting back to her with more flesh, she (and your relationship) will start to rapidly deteriorate until her transformation is complete and she destroys the world.
That may seem brutal and at least a little annoying, as you constantly have to return to her room instead of pressing forward, but the timer does serve as a constant reminder of why you're going on this adventure at all. While the game could just teleport you back to her place for a cutscene or two and then let you go about your business, it'd be easy to look right through those interactions without noticing them. Because you have to constantly think about maintaining her health, Elena is at the forefront of your mind, and the game serves the story rather than wearing it like a thin and ineffective overcoat.
Often enough, completing all of the sidequests in a game is just a question of your interest and willingness, because the objectives themselves typically don't require much skill or effort. But Dead Rising - a game where you and a handful of survivors are trapped in a zombie-infested shopping mall that's also housing a few "psychopaths" from the local prison - doesn't want to go that easy on you. Side objectives involve rescuing as many other survivors as you can, but you only have a limited amount of days before the rescue team shows up to collect them. Even trickier, each survivor is only alive and mobile for a short period of time. Miss that window, and they're gone for good.
That sidequest setup is immensely punishing, and you can expect to see plenty of announcements that survivors are dying on your watch as you level up. But it immediately drives home how dangerous your situation is, and proves that this zombie infestation isn't just a good excuse to beat a few shambling bodies down with a weed whacker or a six string. Getting everyone out alive is possible, but incredibly difficult, and you're basically going to have to be superhuman to pull it off.
Lightning's world is going to end in thirteen days. And unlike most games, there's no chance you'll be able to save the world in that time; all you can hope to do is send the souls of the living to their rest before the apocalypse arrive. There is a bright side, because if you can rescue enough souls before the clock strikes midnight on the final day, everyone will be reincarnated in a new world. But that's only if you rescue enough, and you're on a deadline: there's a timer at the top of the screen constantly reminding you how close you are to imminent doom.
That sense of looming destruction is what keeps you on the move over the course of Lightning Returns, forcing you to constantly think about how much time you're taking and how you'll fail if you don't recover enough souls. But what really sets it apart from any other timed game is that sidequests don't detract from your time - they add to it. You're actually only given six days to work with when the game begins, and have to earn seven more by finishing various quests scattered throughout the world. It's a brilliant way to solve the 'speed versus completion' problem, making them inseparable without losing out on the tension that's meant to keep you on the move.
Pikmin may look like an adorable game about flower creatures helping a spaceman rebuild his rocket, but pull back that veneer and it's a cold, calculating resource management game. Each task takes a certain amount of time to complete, whether it's getting the tokens to grow new Pikmin, gathering materials, or taking down enemies. You could Pik the surrounding environment clean if you had the time, but you don't, because you only have 30 in-game days to repair the ship.
Pikmin's all about making the best choices about how to manage your time. Sending your Pikmin to harvest parts from a giant monster nets you a lot of materials at once, but you'll lose most of your workforce and halve your productivity in the process. Going after smaller prizes isn't as dangerous, but it also isn't as rewarding, and you simply don't have time to gather everything you need piecemeal. That 30-day timer keeps the pressure on, forcing you to think fast and change your strategy in an instant when the situation calls for it. Yet that demanding nature is what makes the Pikmin series worth playing: these games may be cute, but satisfying victory can only be earned through careful planning and preparation.
Choosing the top 10 MGS moments is an enviable task given the series’ astonishing volume of incidental details, Codec conversations and monumental set- pieces. We asked the readers of GameRadar.com for their favourite memories, sprinkled in a selection of our own; and tried to rank them based on factors like innovation, excitement and poignancy.
You almost certainly won’t agree with our running order, but no one can dispute the legacy of Kojima’s incredible series, or the sheer diversity of its greatest moments…
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
It’s revealed in Metal Gear 4 that Vamp isn’t actually a supernatural, immortal vampire: it was nanomachines that gave him his powers all along. Of course.
Raiden fails to kill him in MGS2, but Snake gets his chance in 4. He bypasses the flamenco-dancing weirdo’s nanomachines by grabbing him around the neck and injecting him with a suppressing chemical, ending his reign of terror once and for all. Van Helsing is nothing compared to Snake.
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
The End, the Cobra Unit’s elderly sniper, is waiting in the jungle, ready to take on Snake in a fight to the death. Arguably the best boss battle in any game, the duel with ancient sniper The End can last minutes or hours. This firefight takes place in three alternating areas of MGS3’s vast jungle. The End only has one reliable tell as you figure out the sniper’s location: sound, as players slowly stalk the jungle with the directional microphone, listening for the wheezing old man as he mumbles “This...is the end” or goes to sleep.
It’s unbelievably tense, and searching for The End is filled with uncertainty. You can’t use the directional mic in first-person and still have Snake’s full peripheral vision; every time you stop and search, you’re putting yourself at risk of him finding you and picking you off.
Shortly after The End is introduced in a cut-scene, you’re given the chance to snipe the geriatric marksman while he’s still napping in his wheelchair. It’s not only an ingenious twist, but a huge timesaver – killing The End at this juncture takes away an hour-long sniping battle. Giving the player the option to skip your game’s best boss battle? Now that’s ballsy. The End actually slowly dies during the fight. Cowardly players could adjust the PS2’s clock and kill him with time. Even better, The End can sneak up on Snake and take him prisoner. You wake up in jail and are forced to break out, before going back to resume the duel.
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
Sending Snake’s mentor to her maker with gaming’s most painful mercy kill
The Boss is Kojima’s most fascinatingly layered creation. At her most base form, she’s already that rarest of entities: a middle-aged woman in a video game. She’s also a mother, a mentor and a badass soldier. With a convoluted plot that skirts around her true intentions, the climax of Snake Eater eventually reveals The Boss to be an American patriot, rather than the Russian defector you previously assumed.
Fittingly, Snake’s final fight against The Boss is as conflicted as her character. It’s a brutal CQC brawl framed by a field of brilliantly white flowers; the emotionally charged violence offset by MGS3’s most tranquil setting. To win, you must tap into the naturalist spirit of Snake Eater; dressing your hero in white to match your floral surroundings, before sneaking up on your mentor. Upon draining The Boss’ life bar, the game passes control to you one final time; a single press of square dealing a slow-mo bullet to release the tortured soldier. As the shot rings out, those flowers turn from red to white; a merciful yet bloody act that transforms Naked Snake into future series villain, Big Boss. It’s a haunting, honourable end to Kojima’s boldest Metal Gear.
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
MGS4 continually highlights Snake’s escalating decrepitation. He’s a wreck: old, tired, wounded and prone to violent coughing fits. Nowhere is his physical degradation more heartbreaking – and yet strangely uplifting – than during his crawl through Outer Haven’s microwave corridor to deliver the AI virus.
The scene is clever in its framing, in that it uses a split-screen effect to juxtapose Snake’s unfailing determination with the struggles of his faltering friends. It’s a gruelling sequence, and goes on just a little bit too long to create self-doubt. Your arms burn with lactic acid, forcing you to change how you hold the pad. Triumph is an act of will over physique.
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
This is the most varied, fast-paced, conclusion to any game ever. First, a boss scrap with Russian general Volgin – forcing you to pull all out all the dirty tricks, like disguising yourself as his beloved Raikov, or startle him with captured tree frogs (his pet hate). Next, a rattling bike escape from the Shagohod, followed by a surprise stealth section with Eva… before the epic final scrap with The Boss.
Except that’s not it. ‘Safe’ in your escape plane, you play Russian Roulette with Ocelot. You can’t lose – but for a few seconds, it feels like the entire journey might have been for nothing.
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
Games rarely give you time for quiet reflection – it’s the antithesis of mainstream game design, which focuses on keeping player’s engaged at all times. Even cutscenes, ostensibly a moment of downtime, require you to pay attention to plot developments and interpersonal conflict.
After the staggering one-hour boss battle with The End, MGS3 gives you time to consider Snake’s state of mind with a two-minute ladder climb backed by a quiet, vocal-only version of the Snake Eater theme. It’s beautiful, haunting and reflective, creating a genuine sense of scale.
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
It’s Kojima’s mic drop, as The Patriots’ grand deception is revealed. Raiden fights through Arsenal Gear’s Sigmoid Colon, taking out tengu soldiers with Solid Snake, when the screen suddenly flashes with a fake Game Over screen – Fission Mailed.
Colonel Campbell goes mad and advises you to turn off the console. Disorienting and deliberate: Kojima tries to play us like The Patriots’ played Raiden himself.
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns Of The Patriots
The Best Is Yet To Come plays during Snake’s return to Shadow Moses’ helipad. The most overtly nostalgic moment in the entire MGS saga. Upon Old Snake’s return to Shadow Moses, he quickly stumbles upon the decaying remains of the island’s heliport.
Visibly crumbling in front of the now decrepit agent, its decaying state reflects our hero’s disintegrating genes. As you first enter the helipad, The Best Is Yet To Come – the song that plays during MGS1’s closing credits – flutters on the wind. A haunting, humbling and expertly judged piece of fan service. Even seeing the crumbling CCTV camera feels poignant.
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
By controversially forcing players into the role of Raiden for the majority of MGS2, Kojima wanted players to see Solid Snake from another perspective: as the legendary, mythical hero, and not the character we got to know in the first game. Raiden catches glimpses of Snake throughout the game, building on this image until they eventually join forces at the end. It’s a powerful moment, and we finally see Snake shed his ‘Pliskin’ skin to become the legend.
For a few electrifying minutes, Raiden and Snake work together to battle waves of elite Tengu soldiers in the bowels of Arsenal Gear. Stealth be damned, this is a sword-waving, guns-rattling scrap for survival. It’s a thrilling moment, and you see Snake in the same light as Raiden: the hero of Shadow Moses, the son of Big Boss, and the world’s greatest living soldier.
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
As Solid Snake tries – and fails – to take his own life, he’s stopped by a familiar face
How do you craft a satisfying end to a series that juxtaposes themes of genetics, economics and politics with Godzilla in-jokes, groin punching and nude cartwheels? A game that defies focus-group compromise with varied game styles torn from Kojima’s toybox psyche? The answer is fittingly enigmatic as Big Boss puffs his final cigar with lost ‘son’ Solid Snake and declares: “This is good, isn’t it?”
What is good? The fleeting, sensory pleasure? Sharing a last moment with your son? This – the game, the series and Kojima’s final knowing wink that a game like this might never exist again? All these things are good, and it’s a fitting end to the contradictory, epic series that defined a generation.
Assassin's Creed is, put kindly, a contentious series. Put unkindly, its has had highs and lows so high and so low that I'm starting to feel seasick thinking about it. But for all its troubles, swathes of players keep coming back, because there's something at the heart of Assassin's Creed that still creates fun, enthralling, even timeless adventures.
Of course, no one can actually agree on which Creed games deserve that ‘timeless’ descriptor. If you're a newcomer to the series looking for what's worth your time, internet screaming matches aren't going to do you much good; you need a list of the best and worst of the Assassin's Creed series, free of drama. For you, I have combed through the data, consulted those most knowledgeable, and reached back into my own past to create a ranked list of all currently available Assassin's Creed games. This doesn't include AC games that have been scrubbed from existence, like the ill-fated Assassin's Creed Recollection, but everything else is here. Nothing is true, but everything is permitted, so permit me to say this list might spark debate.
This one was a tough call, because Freedom Cry was born as Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag DLC, but had bigger ambitions and eventually became a . While its combat and sidequest structure make it all but inseparable from Black Flag, it deserves an honorable mention for its story alone. Here, former slave Adewale stands against the slavemasters of Haiti in the name of freedom, proving that the Assassins' mission can take on many important shapes.
Freedom Cry puts you in the thick of a slave trade and is unflinching in how it depicts that brutality. You can't miss the human auctions or runaway slaves who will be killed without your help, and being a participant rather than an observer makes it impossible to ignore. But perhaps most importantly, Freedom Cry shows how those slaves and the nation's freemen are active participants in their own liberation, working with Adewale rather than waiting passively. In that regard, Freedom Cry does something that is not only important, but almost entirely unique, and that deserves a shout out.
Before Ezio's trilogy was a twinkle in the eyes of the AC development team, there was Altair's Chronicles. The mobile prequel to the original Assassin's Creed, it sees Altair hunting for a mythical artifact called The Chalice in constricted 3D world. It's a disaster from start to finish: Assassin's Creed's combat is simplified down to the point that it's no longer interesting, locations and missions are same-y, its story (complete with forced romance) is hackneyed, and the dialogue is consistently awful with occasional forays into Vader ‘Noooooooo!’ territory.
The one thing Altair's Chronicles sort-of has going for it is visuals, including lovely (if overused) environmental designs, which at least make it aesthetically-pleasing. But that's not nearly enough to make up for its many and varied shortcomings, and with new mobile AC games surpassing its visual quality, it’s best to give this one a pass.
This actually covers five separate titles published over the years, but they're basically the same game, so it's efficient to talk about them all at once. Up until the release of AC4: Black Flag, every main entry in the series was accompanied by a mobile game that retells its story. Or, rather, takes that story and shaves it down to the absolute basics, using what remains as the skeleton for a simple side-scroller build for playing at the train station.
These games are workmanlike and handle well enough, but much of what makes the main games interesting is tossed out in the name of mobile consistency. Ultimately these titles feel like random side-scrollers with AC skins, and Ubisoft apparently thought so too: every sign of them has been scrubbed from the company's digital storefronts, so you'll have to hit the if (for some reason) you want to give them a try.
Assassin’s Creed Identity launched on iOS with the intent to be more like the full-blooded console releases, albeit with an RPG spin. Set in the Italian Renaissance, Identity attempts to recreate the series’ signature sneaking-and-stabbing gameplay, shrunken down for shorter sessions. Ezio’s been swept aside for custom-created characters, each brought to life using a marvelous Italian name generator.
Sadly, you’ll probably spend more time messing around with that than you will the actual game. It’s a free-to-play affair, sending you to and fro to eliminate some guy / collect this artifact / escort this person in exchange for skill points you can spend on outfits, equipment, and movesets. Spotty controls result in a lot of running into walls rather than up them, but at least you won’t have to avoid the usual swarm of civilians - there’s barely anyone in the streets, meaning that it’s up to the flat textures and boxy buildings to build the atmosphere. Bizarrely, Identity was only released in Australia and New Zealand on iOS; a promised Android version never arrived. Frankly, world, you’re not missing out.
If you only played the Assassin's Creed mobile games, you might get the idea that the series' trademark is side-scrolling your way through corridors of oblivious guards/corpses-to-be. Assassin's Creed 2: Discovery won’t do much to dispel that notion; you play as Ezio, conducting assassination missions for a series of clients, all of which are nondescript and ultimately unimportant. They just act as vehicles to push you into a 2D platformer that takes on a few infinite-runner qualities, if you feel like charging in full steam and destroying every barely competent guard you meet.
It's a simple game that doesn't have the depth of most Assassin's Creed titles, but it does accomplish what it sets out to do. Creating a smoother, teresting platforming experience than the mobile companion games, Discovery set the standard for 2D Creed games back in 2009. It's since been bypassed by the superior Chronicles: China, but might still be worth a play if you can find a DS copy, since Ubisoft has since removed all evidence of the mobile version.
Released alongside Assassin's Creed 2 and Discovery in a calculated assault on everyone's wallets, Bloodlines continues Altair's story following the events of the original game. As opposed to previous handheld/mobile entries in the series, Bloodlines tries to approximate the 3D look and free-for-all gameplay of the console releases. In the case of the former, it does a decent job, with crisp visuals that make it look like a true AC game. But when it comes to gameplay, Bloodlines misses the haystack: small environments funnel you into battles constantly, but the combat system doesn't actually use the PSP's controls to its benefit, so fights often feel as ungainly as hand-stitching in oven mitts.
Plus, while Bloodlines does have an involved story that's not as awful as Altair's Chronicles, it often falls flat and isn't strong enough to make up for the lackluster combat. Its one saving grace is Maria - Altair's sharp-tongued associate who fans might remember from a certain - whose interactions with Altair give the story some life and depth. Sadly, even she's not enough to save the production.
It takes serious confidence to slim down a mini-game from one of your previous titles and release it on its own. But Ubisoft was riding high on the crest of Black Flag's success in late 2013, and the result was Assassin's Creed Pirates, a mobile game that is just Black Flag's ship combat, playable on the go.
Pirates does try to be a proper Assassin's Creed game, with a story involving Assassins, Templars and magic DNA time machines, but that's just window dressing - you spend 99% of your time shooting cannonballs at other ships just 'cause. But the designers knew that, and so they made a point of prioritizing the combat and making sure that controlling ships via touch features feel simple and natural. Pirates sits low on this list because it’s just a facet of another Assassin's Creed game, but that facet is so well designed that it deserves recognition.
Assassin's Creed 3 is, in many ways, a test drive. It was the first Ezio-less Assassin's Creed in five years, the first set in a populated wilderness (fields in Italy don’t count), and the first to feature the series' now beloved ship combat. It does a lot of things right, creating a Frontier you can explore for hours, and it’s . Unfortunately, it gets a lot of other things - fundamental, obvious things - very wrong.
Main character Connor is often too aloof and superior to be sympathetic, and the amount of times he steps in to save the incompetent Founding Fathers is hard to take seriously. The game contains sections that emphasize stealth, but the actual stealth controls are poor, so these parts are far more annoying than fun. And, hurting from a tight development schedule, the game shipped with enough bugs to make an entomologist swoon; now the way it controls is awkward at best and game-breaking at worst. It has some good ideas, but ultimately can't execute on them; that's been left to later games that have the fundamentals down better.
AC Liberation still bears the marks of its time on the Vita. Its combat is just as fluid and satisfying as some of the strongest Assassin's Creed games, and presenting its story as the Templars' altered version of events is one of the most clever new mechanics the series has seen in a while. But there's no escaping how cramped the game feels, both in physical size and its storyline.
One-woman-wonder Aveline is a fascinating character with a lot of gusto, but her motivations are never really made clear, and neither are those of her enemies. And with only one city, some outlying swamp, and a temple to investigate, it doesn't make you want to explore the world the way an Assassin's Creed game should. All told, it fits squarely in the middle of the Creed quality scale: not great, but not terrible, and serviceable for fans in need of an AC fix.
If you got your first look at Assassin's Creed Rogue with no context, you might come away thinking it's Black Flag DLC. That isn't too far from the mark - the story of an Assassin-turned-Templar named Shay Cormac, Rogue focuses on the period of time between Black Flag and AC3, and lifts heavily from Black Flag's trove of assets. Ship combat is virtually the same, music and sound effects are extremely similar, and Shay fights the same way Edward does nearly stab for stab.
But with Black Flag's style of combat and exploration on the way out with the release of Unity, some fans hail Rogue as a welcome retread, and it does a standout job of replicating Black Flag's best parts. Plus, new environments like the North Pole, and minor additions to ship combat, give those mechanics a little extra juice without changing them too much, and seeing off some of the North American arc's most beloved characters is welcome fan-service. It doesn't do much new or inventive, but Rogue extends the life of a familiar and well-loved time-period, giving fans a soft place to land.
The game that started it all isn't looking as hot as it was eight years ago, but it isn't quite falling apart at the seams yet either. Effectively a tech demo for what the franchise could become, the original Assassin's Creed gives you one thing to do (assassinate, if you hadn't guessed) and tells you to do it ten times over, with only the most repetitive of sidequests to break things up. Much of what earned it acclaim at the time of its release has also faded, as graphics have gotten better and Ubisoft honed the controls for AC games so you don't run up walls quite as much.
But what the original Assassin's Creed has going for it is a place close to the series' heart: you learn everything you can about your target, you plot the assassination, and you execute. The high-profile missions offer some variety in that regard, since each target behaves in a unique way that favors a different kind of approach. It's bare-bones, and it's been done better since, but the game isn't irrelevant yet.
The latest in that fine tradition of Assassin's Creed side-scrollers, Chronicles: China perfects their best parts and improves on them by borrowing tricks from one of (hint: it's the one with the ninjas). Stealth mechanics are integrated seamlessly and give the gameplay a lot more flavor, and true free-running segments create intense and welcome action. Add in a beautiful art style that disguises its lesser budget, and Chronicles: China is easily the best among Assassin's Creed's not-quite-2D library.
On the downside, its short runtime and basic setup don't allow for the exploration of a truly great Assassin's Creed, and the lack of variety between environments means that the world quickly becomes repetitive. Plus, protagonist Shao Jun's revenge plot is light on heartfelt storytelling, and instead unapologetically replicates that of her mentor, Ezio Auditore. But it's a fun and challenging title that advances the quality of the series' smaller offerings and redeems the format.
Let's get this out in the open: Assassin's Creed Unity has problems. An ambitious project that promised to revamp Assassin's Creed's standard battle mechanics, create a bigger world than in any previous title, and build a completely new multiplayer from scratch, it bit off more cake than it could chew and was an . And while that may be the story that lives on into gaming infamy, it's not Unity's full story: it has a lot of good stuff under its lapel that isn't always buried by glitches.
In addition to being beautiful and upping the graphical standard for every Creed to come, Unity's assassination system is revolutionary, opening up new opportunities for creative killing by honing in on weak links in the environment's security. In addition, it offers up cerebral challenges in the form of murder mysteries and riddle solving, which are a lot tricate and interesting than AC has seen in the past. If all Unity ever brings to the series is the ability to and some serious brain teasers, its earned a place of esteem on this list.
Pick a popular game, and chances are good that the protagonist is somewhere between 15 and 35 years old. They might as well be dead after that, because you're more likely to run across a unicorn in-game than a silver-haired main character. Ezio Auditore is not only an exception to that rule, but the best, thanks to the brilliant story at the forefront of Assassin's Creed Revelations. Featuring easily one of the most thoughtful and mature tales the series has yet woven, Revelations set the standard for every Assassin's Creed story since.
Admittedly, that brilliance isn't felt in every part of the game. Constantinople is fairly drab and forgettable, and the tower-defense mini-game added to territory-claiming is basically the worst. But that only speaks to the strength of Revelations' narrative, which focuses on sacrifice and loss in a painfully honest way that satisfies your heart as much as it breaks it. Both Ezio and Altair get the loving send-offs they deserve, because Revelations knows that there's strength in telling a different kind of story.
Assassin's Creed Brotherhood sounds like a disaster waiting to happen. A direct, swiftly-produced sequel to Assassin's Creed 2 that restricts your movements to one city and deemphasizes story: it had shameless cash-in written all over it, especially given the precedence set by Altair's Chronicles and Bloodlines. But those of us who prepared for disappointment were met with a pleasant surprise: Brotherhood is good. So good that it changed the face of the series forever by implementing brand new mechanics that are still around to this day, like capturing territory, addictive multiplayer, and control over a legion of Assassins you can summon at your whim.
The only real downside to Brotherhood, as mentioned, is the lack of story and different locations to visit. But alongside those pieces of gameplay it executes so well, Brotherhood hides emotional slices of plot for the curious to find, and Rome itself is so diverse that you're never left wanting for much more.
Altair may have technically kicked off the Assassin's Creed franchise, but turning it into a gaming powerhouse that sells millions of copies to fans around the world? That was all Ezio, and for good reason. Starting from the very basic formula that started the series, Assassin's Creed 2 squeezed blood from a stone to create a nearly perfect game.
Its tale of revenge is engaging from the instant it begins, and full of characters you love and ache to see succeed. Assassinations are made much more complex and challenging through unique weapons and a new move-set that gets deeper the longer you test it out. It fills out the time between main missions with sidequests that are instantly engaging, and the best of them may . Nothing is overlooked, and nothing is wasted: AC2 is an expertly crafted and perfectly honed masterpiece, one that made Assassin's Creed what it is today. And for the longest time, nothing could surpass it.
While AC2 soared to success on an updraft of enthusiasm for a burgeoning series, Black Flag arrived on the heels of the disappointing AC3, when confidence in the series was at an all-time low. It faced a hostile climate with little faith that a game about pirate Assassins could possibly succeed. And in proper buccaneer fashion, it blew the doors right off the place, taking every piece of the Assassin's Creed franchise and turning it into pirate gold.
There's almost nothing about the Assassin's Creed series that Black Flag didn't either invent or radically improve; against all expectations, it offered up the biggest game world the franchise had yet seen, an incredible variety of addictive missions, ship combat that was suddenly fun, and an effortlessly beautiful soundtrack that you've probably listened to at least once while nowhere near the game. But Black Flag went beyond the video game basics, giving an honest treatment of an often misrepresented historical period, and deftly telling the tale of a time, a place, and a people that ultimately came to ruin. It's masterfully crafted, incredibly fun, and is the game that proves the series' best years aren't behind it.
